Skin diseases among schoolchildren in Africa

Abstract

Many skin diseases among schoolchildren in sub-Sahara Africa cause disturbing complaints like itch and pain and several of them are contagious.This high prevalence causes a major public health problem.Although in several countries and also in our studies skin diseases present in large numbers, they don't get the attention they deserve.A high percentage of visits to hospitals or other health institutions are caused by skin diseases.Most of them can easily be prevented and treated. The majority of skin diseases found in our study was caused by infections and inflammation together and can be grouped into fewer than eight categories. This is important in designing training programs for medical teams involved in the delivery of health care services in sub-Sahara African countries where a big part of the population is less than 15 years of age.