Ghana is facing a growing public health and psychological emergency, with skin bleaching among children exposing deeper societal dysfunction, warns Dr. Titus Beyuo, former Deputy General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association.
Following a damning investigation by JoyNews and Nigeria Health Watch, which uncovered parents using banned and toxic substances to lighten their children’s skin, Dr. Beyuo described the trend as symptomatic of a “community diagnosis of a mental problem.”
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show on June 2, Dr. Beyuo emphasized that this obsession with fairness and Western beauty ideals is not just a cosmetic issue but signals widespread mental health and cultural deterioration.
“It’s not only about the chemicals. The real crisis is the psychological and societal conditioning that fairness equates to success, beauty, and privilege,” he said.
He described the practices—ranging from creams with hydroquinone and mometasone to household bleach like Parazone—as dangerous, especially when used on children as young as three.
Dr. Beyuo further condemned how schools and institutions reinforce this bias by showcasing lighter-skinned children in advertisements, suggesting a broader failure in national values and identity.
“This isn’t about individual pathology anymore,” he stressed. “We may need to rehabilitate the entire society.”
He called for an urgent, nationwide mental health and cultural intervention, highlighting the need for clinical psychologists, public educators, and community leaders to confront colourism and redefine Ghana’s concept of beauty.
