Senegal: Albinos face social rejection

In Senegal a lack of adequate health care, difficulties accessing education and employment, and social marginalisation mean many albinos are dying unnecessarily or are living in destitution.

Recent murders of albinos in eastern and central Africa have attracted worldwide condemnation. At least 36 albinos have been murdered in Tanzania and Burundi since March, apparently targeted because of the belief peddled by some witch doctors that albinos' blood or body parts have magical qualities that can bring riches or cure disease.

The European Union in September passed a resolution condemning the murders and calling for the killers to be prosecuted. The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) has condemned recent attacks in Burundi and is working with the governors of some provinces there to protect albinos and to dispel the myths surrounding them.

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