Vitiligo – a disease which causes pale patches to develop on the skin and mucous membranes – can be psychologically devastating. The change in skin colour may even create doubts about a person’s identity, as seen in the case of a Nigerian whose bank asked him to register his national identity number again. Vitiligo causes loss of skin pigment (colour) either in patches or over much of the body. Dermatologist Umar Abdullahi has seen how upsetting and stigmatising the condition can be, particularly for dark skinned individuals.
