Cape Town - Scandal! actor Brighton Ngoma who plays Quinton Nyathi has shone the spotlight on vitiligo on International Vitiligo Day which is celebrated around the world on 25 June.
Vitiligo awareness website describes the condition as an unpredictable, generally progressive skin disease, which results in a spontaneous loss of skin colour over the lifetime of the person. They do point out that it has a devastating effect on the social life of the affected person and their family.
The actor who is living with this skin condition which causes one to lose skin colour has not been shy to embrace it. In fact, at times he does crack a joke here and there about it.
"The Bishop and I. Ebony and....wait...i-vitiligo!!!! Get it? Thought you might... In case you're wondering, my skin condition is known as Vitiligo. It's not contagious, it's not painful - it just means I might get the land back quicker.... KIDDING!!!! HAPPY WORLDWIDE VITILIGO DAY!!!!! (25 June)," he posted on his Instagram.
Even though the disease is not contagious, Dermatologist Jabu Nkehli warns that if left untreated it may lead to cancer. Speaking to eNCA, the doctor said: "Because it [the patch] loses melanocytes that area loses protection against the sun. So, those areas may be prone to long term skin cancer," she cautions.
Veteran actress Leleti Khumalo who has openly spoken about her condition, started developing vitiligo at the age of 19 but as a young woman growing up in the township of KwaMashu, KwaZulu-Natal, she didn’t know what it was. "It was pure ignorance on my part," she says. "In fact, I didn’t even know what it was until I became pregnant," she told DRUM.
She told the magazine that she used to hide with makeup but when she joined etv’s Imbewu: The Seed, she decided she won’t do that anymore.
