Albinism in Angola as a Public Health Issue
Main Article Content
Abstract
In this work we describe albinism in Angola as a public health issue. In Angola there is an estimated population of around 34 million people, 6818 are albinos and only around 2000 people are monitored by the national health service. Oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) is a genetically inherited autosomal recessive condition and OCA2, tyrosine positive albinism, is the most prevalent type found across Angola. Due to the lack of melanin, people with albinism are more susceptible to the harmful effects of exposure to ultraviolet radiation. This population must deal with issues such as photophobia, decreased visual acuity, extreme sun sensitivity and skin cancer. People with albinism also face social discrimination as a result of their difference in appearance. The World Health Organization is currently investigating issues relating to this vulnerable population.
Keywords:
Albinism, Angola, public health issue
Article Details
How to Cite
PINTO, Francisco João.
Albinism in Angola as a Public Health Issue.
Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 13, n. 4, apr. 2025.
ISSN 2375-1924.
Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/6367>. Date accessed: 15 may 2025.
doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v13i4.6367.
Section
Research Articles
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
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38. Albinos (2013). Associação dos albinos da Republica de Angola. Disponível em https://m.redeangola.info/ albinos.>. Acesso 7/Mar/2025
2. Araújo, S. (2021). The beautiful (in) visible of the Albina Child in Children´s literature. Ufpb.br.João Pessoa. Disponível em: https://periodicos.ufpbr.br/ojs2/index.php/caos/article/view/34701. Acesso em 6 / Nov/2024 .
3. Ero (2021). Pessoas com Albinismo no mundo. Uma Perspectiva de direitos humanos. Disponível em
4. Marçon, C.; Maia, M. (2019). Epidemia genética, caracterização cutânea a factores psicosociais. Departamento de Medicina, Santa casa de Misercódia de São Paulo. Disponível em
5. Gould, G.M(1893). Journal of the Amercan Medical Association.
6. D Creel, C. J., WITKOP, R.A., King. (1974)- Asymmetric visually evoked potentials in human albinos: evidence for visual system anomalies. Investigative Ophthalmology & visual science.
7. Jump up to: a b University of Utah Genetics Learning Center animated tour of the basics of genetics. Howstuffworks.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
8. Jump up to: a b Melanocortin 1 Receptor, Accessed 27 November 2024.
9. Simons, A. (2024). Chromosomes, Genes, and Traits: An Introduction to Genetics.
10. Halder, R.M., Bridgeman-Shah, M.D. (1995) Skin cancer in African Americans - Wiley Online Library. Department of Dermatology, Howard University College of Medicine
11. Kruijt, C. C., Montoliu, L. (2022). The retinal pigmentation pathway in human albinism. National Institute Health, published in Progress in Retinal and Eye Research.
12. Brücher, C.V, Peter Heiduschka, P., Ulrike Grenzebach, U., Eter, N., Biermann, J. (2019). Distribution of macular ganglion cell layer thickness in foveal hypoplasia: A new diagnostic criterion for ocular albinism. Published: November 18, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0224410.
13. Hoffmann, M.B. (2005). Visual Processing Lab - Dpt Ophthalmology -Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg
14. Schiaffino, M.V., Tacchetti, C. (2005). The ocular albinism type 1 (OA1) protein and the evidence for an intracellular signal transduction system involved in melanosome biogenesis, DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0749.2005.00240.x
15. Keren, G., Lewis, C. (Eds.). (1993). A handbook for data analysis in the behavioral sciences: Methodological issues. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc ...
16. Marjan Huizing, M., May, C. V. , Malicdan, Jennifer ´A. , Wang, H.P, Richard, A., Hess, R. F., Kevin , J.. O'Brien, M. A. Merideth, W. A. Gahl, B. R. G,(2020). Hermansky–Pudlak syndrome: Mutation update, First published: 03 January 2020 https://doi.org/10.1002/humu.23968
17. Chiang, G.(2009) Effects of Feeding Solid-State Fermented Rapeseed Meal on Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Intestinal Ecology and Intestinal Morphology of Broiler Chickens. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 23, 263-271.
https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2010.90145
18. Mancini, P.M, Camilleri-Bröet, S. Anderson, B.O., Hockenbery, D. M. (1998). Proliferative mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1566-3124(01)05005-2
19. Constituição da Republica de Angola (CRA), Órgão Oficial, I Série, Nº 154. 16 de Agosto de 2023, Artigo 77º (Saúde e Protecção Social)
20. Lim, H.W., Kohli, I., Ruvolo, E.(2022). Impact of visible light on skin health: The role of antioxidants and free radical quenchers in skin protection. J Am Acad Dermatol 86(3S):S27-S37, 2022. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2021.12.024.
21. Lvovs, D.; Favorova, O.O.; Favorov, A.V. (2012). "A Polygenic Approach to the Study of Polygenic Diseases". Acta Naturae. 4(3):59–71. doi:10.32607/ 20758251-2012-4-3-59-71. ISSN 2075-8251. PMC 3491892. PMID 23150804.
22. "Spontaneous Mutations | Harvard Medical School". hms.harvard.edu. 2013-05-15. Retrieved 2025-01-08.
23. "OMIM Gene Map Statistics". www.omim.org. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
24. "Orphanet: About rare diseases". www.orpha.net. Retrieved 2020-01-14.
25. Bick, David; Bick, Sarah L.; Dimmock, David P.; Fowler, Tom A.; Caulfield, Mark J.; Scott, Richard H. (2021). "An online compendium of treatable genetic disorders". American Journal of Medical Genetics. Part C, Seminars in Medical Genetics. 187 (1): 48–54. doi:10.1002/ajmg.c.31874. ISSN 1552-4876. PMC 7986124. PMID 33350578.
26. Kumar, Pankaj; Radhakrishnan, Jolly; Chowdhary, Maksud A.; Giampietro, Philip F. (2001). "Prevalence and Patterns of Presentation of Genetic Disorders in a Pediatric Emergency Department". Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 76 (8):777–783. doi:10.4065/76. 8.777. ISSN 0025-6196. PMID 11499815.
27. 28. Jackson, Maria; Marks, Leah; May, Gerhard H.W.; Wilson, Joanna B. (2018). "The genetic basis of disease". Essays in Biochemistry. 62 (5): 643–723. doi:10.1042/EBC20170053. ISSN 0071-1365. PMC 6279436. PMID 30509934. (calculated from "1 in 17" rare disorders and "80%" of rare disorders being genetic)
28. "WGBH Educational Foundation". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved 2013-03-22.
29. Carroll, Sean B. (1974). Introdução À Genética - 11ª Ed. [S.l.]: Guanabara Koogan
30. Robinson, Tara Rodden (2005). Genetics for Dummies (em inglês). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing. p. 9. 364 páginas. ISBN 978-0-7645-9554-7
31. Robinson, Tara Rodden (2005). Genetics for Dummies (em inglês). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing. p. 327. 364 páginas. ISBN 978-0-7645-9554-7
32. Willett, Edward (2006). Genetics Desmystified (em inglês). New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 2-4. 210 páginas. ISBN 0-07-145930-8
33. Hart, Daniel L.; Jones, Elizabeth W. (1998). Genetics. Principles and Analysis 4ª ed. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. p. 177-182. ISBN 0-7637-0489-X
34. Alberts, Bruce; Johnson, Alexander; Lewis, Julian; Raff, Martin; Roberts, Keith; Walter, Peter (2010). Biologia Molecular da Célula 5 ed. Porto Alegre: Artmed. pp. 553–556. ISBN 978-85-363-2066-3
35. Karp, Gerald (2008). Cell and Molecular Biology. Concepts and Experiments (em inglês) 5ª ed. New Jersey: John Wiley. pp. 727–776. ISBN 978-0-470-04217-5
36. Dale, Jeremy W.; Park, Simon F (2004). Molecular Genetics of Bacteria (em inglês) 4ª ed. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. p. 37-66. 346 páginas. ISBN 0-470-85084-1
37. Gillespie, John H (1998). Population Genetics. A Concise Guide. Baltimore/London: The Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 1. 169 páginas. ISBN 0-8018-5755-4
38. Albinos (2013). Associação dos albinos da Republica de Angola. Disponível em https://m.redeangola.info/ albinos.>. Acesso 7/Mar/2025