In West Africa, dreaded injections to whiten the skin

This Ivorian YouTuber, a former fan of so-called “whitening” injections, waited ten days without seeing any results. “Clearly, I got scammed“, she remembers.

Influenced by an ideal of fair-skinned beauty, many women depigment their skin in West Africa, mainly using lightening creams available everywhere commercially although harmful.

“A not new phenomenon” but “a global public health problem requiring urgent attention” again pointed out in November by the World Health Organization (WHO).

In recent years, alongside ointments, some of which age the skin prematurely, cause pimples or contain carcinogenic substances, ampoules and bottles have appeared on the shelves.

These liquids to be injected into the veins, directly into the blood, are very popular, particularly among young people. They are believed to have a “faster” and “uniformizing” effect, explains the president of a collective of NGOs fighting against depigmentation in Côte d’Ivoire, Marcellin Doh.

Until now, neither health authorities nor the WHO seem to have seriously considered the specific dangers of these injections, unlike those of creams, which have been widely documented.

However, these substances with a less transparent composition also present significant risks, warn four Ivorian and Cameroonian dermatologists interviewed by AFP.

These injections also fuel a network of scams, as proven by the composition of a product purchased by AFP in Ivory Coast then sent to France for analyzes which showed a difference between the content and the packaging. .

“Whitening down to the spinal cord”

In Cocovico, a market in Abidjan, a woman asks to buy a liquid that “lightens the skin”. A saleswoman slips away before taking boxes of light bulbs out of a fanny pack, furtively. The batch of ten bottles is negotiated for 25,000 CFA francs (around 38 euros). The client will have to manage to administer the injection.

Beyond discreet physical points of sale, dozens of Ivorian, Cameroonian, Senegalese and even Nigerian Facebook pages openly offer these substances, boasting “uniform whitening down to the spinal cord“.

The manager of an online store located in Abidjan, contacted by telephone and who wishes to remain anonymous, claims to sell “imported products” from southeast Asia, Italy or Switzerland.

According to her, the liquids sold are “of good quality” because “basically”, they are “medicines”.

In reality, the composition of these bulbs is beyond any control, like their method of manufacture. And even if they are medicines, their misuse can have serious consequences.

“It is assumed, given their side effects, that these are corticosteroids“, explains Sarah Kourouma, dermatologist at Treichville University Hospital in Abidjan.

These powerful anti-inflammatories certainly cause “depigmentation of the skin when used for a long time and in high doses”, but also “diabetes” or “hypertension”.

Wealthier women are turning to injections based on glutathione, an antioxidant naturally present in the body prescribed to patients with cancer or Parkinson’s disease, notes Grace Nkoro, dermatologist at the gyneco-obstetric hospital of Yaoundé, Cameroon.

In her office, Ms. Nkoro saw several patients who developed these disorders after “having purchased these injections on the internet“: skin problems or kidney failure.

Same observation for Sarah Kourouma, in Abidjan, who describes “young, educated women, between 25 and 30 years old“who prick themselves”every week, sometimes every other day“, without always knowing precisely what they have injected. They present “skin pathologies such as acne, conditions leaving scars and black spots that are very hard to treat“.

In neighboring Ghana, authorities issued an alert in October 2021: glutathione injections “pose a significant health risk” with some “toxic side effects for the liver, kidneys and nervous system“, or can cause “Stevens Johnson syndrome”, rotting of the skin.

Risk of hepatitis

Another danger is the injection method. In the middle of the street, at the back of a shop, by the saleswoman or the customer herself, practitioners and authorities fear the possible consequences of injections carried out outside any medical framework, in particular the risk of hepatitis, infection or transmission of HIV.

“If we have not cleaned the equipment properly, we will potentially inject bacteria into the bloodstream, and we risk a total body infection.“, alerts Sarah Kourouma.

The traders who practice these injections “are illegal”, confirms to AFP the director general of the Ivorian Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority, Assane Coulibaly.

If in 2015, the Ivorian authorities issued a decree to ban certain whitening products, such as those based on corticosteroids, others based on glutathione are not directly targeted by the legislation.

In addition, in markets and online stores, these products remain widely accessible. The AFP, for example, was able to obtain it, without incident, by contacting a saleswoman on social networks claiming to sell gluthation injections.

Purchased in Abidjan for 75,000 FCFA (114 euros), this batch of sixteen bottles and powders indeed suggests the presence of glutathione, in particular by its name (“Glutax 7000000 GM”).

These samples were then sent to Paris to be analyzed by the toxicology laboratory at Lariboisière hospital. Result: vitamins, proteins, sugar… But no detection of glutathione in these products, even though they are presented as such.

Diktat inherited from colonialism

Faced with what appears to be a scam, AFP sought to contact the manufacturer. On its website, Dermedical Skin Sciences claims to have a laboratory in Italy. At the address indicated, we only find on Google Maps a golf course and a municipal swimming pool in Milan. The phone has the Genoa prefix, 150 km away, and rang in a luxurious house. After picking up, a female voice claimed to be a private individual.

There is no company registered under the name “Dermedical Skin Sciences” with the Italian Chambers of Commerce.

Contacted by AFP, an Ivorian trader selling this same product under the “Glutax” brand assured that he had entered into contact with a “wholesaler in Manila”, the capital of the Philippines, far from Italy.

On Google Maps, a company “Glutax” is listed in Manila and has more than 120 customer reviews.

This Southeast Asian country is home to a dizzying number of wholesalers and resellers who supply African markets in particular. Even though these injectable glutathione products are banned for use in the Philippines.

The Philippine Medicines Agency (FDA) has also singled out the same product “Glutax” purchased by the AFP in Ivory Coast, which could induce, according to it, “a potential danger or harm to health“.

Despite scams, bans and health risks, many women in Asia and Africa resort to these “whitening” injections which meet aesthetic standards.inherited from the colonial period“, analyzes the researcher at the Nordic Africa Institute, Shingirai Mtero.

The WHO estimates that skin bleaching, despite warnings, remains widespread in Africa, affecting for example up to three-quarters of the population in Nigeria.

“African countries have emerged from colonization (…) but that does not mean that they have emancipated themselves from the prejudices that were imposed on them“, adds Ms. Mtero.