This year, the theme for International Albinism Awareness Day (June 13) is “Demanding our rights: Protect our skin, Preserve our lives.” This is a clarion call to protect persons with albinism, given their extreme vulnerability to skin cancer and the high rates of fatality they face from this preventable disease.
The climate crisis has intensified a deadly but often overlooked health emergency for persons with albinism. Already at dramatically higher risks of skin cancer due to a genetic lack of melanin, individuals with albinism now face heightened challenges due to rising global temperatures and increased ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure. This vulnerability, combined with poor access to health care, inadequate policy and medical support, and widespread discrimination, results in devastating outcomes.
Even without the added stressors of climate change, persons with albinism are approximately 1,000 times more susceptible to skin cancer than the general population — and 98% of Africans with albinism who develop skin cancer die before the age of 40.
Climate Change and Health
Climate change is turning an already urgent health crisis into a human rights emergency, as rising exposure to heat and UV radiation intersect with systemic gaps in skin care and protection. Sun protection is a matter of life and death and critical to a life of dignity for persons with albinism. The challenge of high skin cancer prevalence in the community is one of the most under-recognized global health issues today and exemplifies the toll of climate change on human health.
The theme for this year’s commemoration for International Albinism Awareness Day — “Protect Our Skin, Preserve Our Lives” — is a clear and direct call for global health institutions, national governments, and key stakeholders to address skin cancer prevalence as a grave and urgent threat. The United Nations reports that as global temperatures rise and ozone depletion continues, exposure to harmful UV radiation increases. For persons with albinism, whose genetic condition already increases vulnerability to UV damage, the climate crisis becomes an extremely dangerous hazard. Climate justice demands that global health institutions and national governments center equity and human rights in their decision-making and actions to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change. While the movement typically addresses the unequal historical responsibility that countries and communities bear in relation to the climate crisis, it also requires acknowledging the disproportionate impact of climate change on certain groups within countries due to varying social factors.
More importantly, climate justice goes beyond the performative inclusion of vulnerable groups. Climate justice affirms their collective agency and requires intentionally and meaningfully engaging with affected communities at all stages of climate adaptation and resilience, from its inception and design to its implementation and evaluation. After all, justice is not charity; it is equity and respect for the agency and autonomy of disproportionately affected groups.
Sunscreen as an Essential Medicine
At the global level, the World Health Organization (WHO) should heed the call of persons with albinism to add sunscreen lotion to the WHO Essential Medicines List. While the WHO Committee on Essential Medicines has acknowledged the public health relevance and effectiveness of sunscreen in preventing skin cancer in both the general population and persons with albinism, it has yet to designate it as an essential medical product.
Since 2024, human rights activists and communities have called on the WHO and its members to recognize access to sunscreen as an essential drug, with the Africa Albinism Network launching a petition as part of a global campaign to support this pivotal policy reform. In early 2025, activists led by the UN expert on albinism formally submitted their second application to have sunscreen lotion added to the WHO’s list of essential medicines. Recognizing sunscreen as an essential medicine is central to WHO’s commitment to protecting people’s lives and health from the wide-ranging impacts of climate change.
Implementing Climate Justice and Health Rights Nationally
To uphold climate justice and protect, respect, and promote the right to health, governments must build inclusive and equitable health systems. Public health care centers, in both rural and urban areas, must offer inclusive care, be staffed with skilled personnel who understand the biology of albinism, and be equipped to provide preventive care and treatment for UV-related skin conditions.
Currently, many health care systems are ableist in design and fail to “protect persons with albinism from the health impacts of climate change.” Health systems are often characterized by minimal or a lack of knowledge among health care professionals about the genetic nature of albinism, as well as discrimination based on skin color and disability when providing care. When persons with albinism seek treatment for precancerous wounds at health care centers, they are often turned away, resulting in a severe decline in their health.
Upholding the right to health means creating equitable health systems that can support the resilience of all individuals, regardless of their status, including those with disabilities. To effectively respond to climate change, governments have the responsibility to ensure that everyone, especially the most vulnerable members of the population, has access to health facilities, goods, and services without fear of discrimination.
Creating a More Just World — The “Right to Shade” for Climate Justice
Climate justice also requires building physical environments that reduce exposure to heat and UV radiation. Urban and rural planning should support communal sun protection measures to enable the full and effective participation of persons with albinism in all aspects of social life, whether at work or leisure.
Investing in and advancing the recognition of the “right to shade” is imperative when supporting the general population’s climate resilience in light of the health challenges posed by heat stress and harmful UV radiation. Shade is a “critical factor in ameliorating high temperatures” and can lower the ambient air temperature by 15-20 degrees. Access to quality shade outdoors can also reduce exposure to UV radiation by up to 75%, dramatically lowering the risk of skin cancer.
Yet, equity in shade access remains a challenge, particularly for vulnerable groups who are most likely to work outdoors and in the informal sector. For many persons with albinism, working in agriculture, fishing, or street vending often means prolonged hours of sun exposure without any protection. Ensuring access to communal shade not only safeguards their health but also protects their right to work and live with dignity.
Protecting Skin Health and Preserving the Lives of Persons with Albinism
Climate justice provides the tools to create a world where human rights are respected and all communities can thrive.
On this International Albinism Awareness Day, we call on the WHO to designate sunscreen lotion as an essential medicine. We urge governments to ensure that efforts to strengthen climate-oriented health systems include building the knowledge, skills, and capacity of health and care workers to support the prevention and treatment of skin cancer, as well as to address discriminatory attitudes within the health sector. Governments should implement regulations that require rural and urban planners to integrate access to shade into their development projects, creating spaces that protect everyone from the harmful effects of UV radiation and heat stress. We call for a holistic climate justice approach that recognizes and includes the human rights of persons with albinism — one that protects their skin and their lives.
DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this piece are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the O’Neill Institute.
