The Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr Iziaq Salako, has said that the use of bleaching cream by women is sometimes as a result of pressure from men to do so.

This was as he stated that the use of skin-lightening products is increasing among Nigerians and African.

Speaking at an awareness-raising workshop on the elimination of lightening cosmetics products in Gabon, Salako lamented that the warnings about the dangers of using bleaching products have been ignored by Africans.

He said,“I must say that not only are men using SLPs, men also tend to put pressure on women directly or indirectly to lighten their skin, and therefore our campaigns must not exclude the menfolks.

“Nigeria may have been called ‘the world capital of skin bleaching’, or ‘the skin-lightening hothouse of the world,’ potentially due to its recognition as having the highest usage rates of SLPs across the globe put at 77 per cent among Nigerian women by WHO. This rate is the highest in the world, reinforcing the prevalence of a cultural and societal preference for lighter skin tones in the country.

“Skin-whitening products include skin-lightening or whiteners that are widely used among a wide range of demographic groups regardless of age, socio-economic status, or education level,” he said.

He stated that high prevalence of skin bleaching culture in Nigeria is backed by studies.

“The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare (through the Cosmetics Safety Management Programme) sampled the opinion of manufacturers and regulatory agents on skin lightening agent usage and found that 52 per cent of manufacturers use skin lightening agents in their formulation

“Nigeria Opinion Institute, a leading public opinion polling organisation in Nigeria, providing insights into public opinion and consumer markets found that 64 per cent of Nigerians believe skin bleaching is highly prevalent, with 97 per cent believing it is common among Nigerian women.

“Studies among university students found a prevalence of between 62.4 and 64.9 per cent. The awareness of skin bleaching is high at over 76 per cent with close to 40 per cent believing that it makes one look beautiful and fashionable. High prevalence was influenced by peer pressure and societal perceptions of beauty. There is also a prevalent practice of using toning ( as a replacement) for bleaching and believing wrongly that toning is not harmful or less harmful,” he emphasised.

Further speaking, Salako listed some of the harmful substances found in bleaching creams to include mercury, hydroquinone, steroids and other heavy metals like arsenic, lead, and cadmium.

According to him, such substances expose users to risks of skin damage, organ toxicity and cancer.