Mafalda Soto Valdés Is A Pharmacist Working On Issues Related To Albinism In Africa Since 2008

       
Mafalda Soto Valdés is a pharmacist with MSc in Tropical Diseases and International Health. She has been working on issues related to albinism in Africa since 2008, initially in Malawi then Tanzania from 2011. She is a volunteer at the Regional Dermatology Training Centre in Tanzania, managing a programme that provides locally-made sunscreen to people with albinism in east Africa.

Meet Mafalda Soto Valdés

Trigger

My first contact with people with albinism (PWAs) dates late 2008 when I volunteered in community mission hospitals in Malawi under the Spanish NGO Africa Directo. I helped develop community programmes in villages that focused on providing comprehensive care to the most vulnerable groups in the community. Through that initiative PWAs received medical services, education and capacity building. As we developed the programme, I learned more about their reality. To live in such remote and rural environment, isolated from the “Wazungu” (Western) world, helped me come closer to them and understand better their challenges and dreams in an unforced, natural way.

Grand Designs

That experience brought me to Tanzania where Africa Directo and La Comunidad de Madrid supported the Regional Dermatology Training Centre in a project that could improve the quality of life of PWAs. The project contemplated shipping a big consignment of commercial sunscreen lotions from Spain. However, after several discussions, the donor agreed to substitute shipping with the launch of a small-scale local production of sunscreens.

The Kilimanjaro Sunscreen Production Unit (KSPU) was created in 2012 at the Regional Dermatology Training Centre, with the support of the NGO Under the Same Sun and others. The unit manufactures our high protection sunscreen, “Kilimanjaro Suncare” cream or “Kilisun”, locally and distributes it to PWAs all over Tanzania.

BASF, the leading worldwide chemical company, supports the development of a formula designed for the skin type and lifestyle of PWAs in east Africa.

To have a good product does not ensure the success of the project, there must be compliance. Most of our time and energy is spent on the distribution system and education within the community. We instruct the beneficiaries and guardians on why, how, and when to apply KiliSun, which is of utmost importance. KiliSun is distributed free of charge but we ask our beneficiaries to return the containers, thus encouraging responsibility, compliance and care for the environment.



SOURCE: albinism.ohchr.org