{
  "abstract": "Objectives Children with albinism are at greater risk of physical and social violence that impacts their education and livelihood. We explored the challenges and opportunities for children with albinism (aged 5+ years) by talking to the children, their teachers and parent-caregivers to understand how ‘positive change’ can be achieved for multiple beneficiaries.Methods Using a multi-method, multi-stakeholder approach we facilitated 3 Focus Group Discussions with teachers (n=15), one-to-one interviews with PCRs (n=8), and 4 FGDs with school-aged learners (n=26) in three schools in central region of Malawi. Learners also completed individual worksheets, using emojis and ‘feelings thermometers’ to describe various facets of everyday life.Results Children considered many day-to-day experiences as joyful, including travelling to-and-from school, making friends, and in-class learning. Bullying inside school and elsewhere was described as ‘Very Negative’. Qualitative findings showed that children are often unable to concentrate on their studies due to fear of being attacked and or kidnapped outside school. Police training on albinism is having a positive influence on young children’s lives. Children are being encouraged to wear long sleeve shirts and wide-brimmed hats, although, some are not receiving sunscreen in time or have enough quantity. This exacerbates the risk of contracting skin cancer, which is still a major concern.Conclusions In spite of the reduction of violence against children with albinism, there is still substantial fear at school level. Thanks to new government measures including police training on albinism and greater sensitisation of the Malawi population about vulnerability of this group of people.",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom"
      ],
      "name": "Paul Lynch"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Malawi Human Rights Commission, Lilongwe, Malawi"
      ],
      "name": "Bonface Massah"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Standing Voice, Lilongwe, Malawi"
      ],
      "name": "Tuntufye Juma"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom"
      ],
      "name": "Christopher Hand"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Mubas, Blantyre, Malawi"
      ],
      "name": "Jenipher Mbukwa-Ngwira"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Standing Voice, Lilongwe, Malawi"
      ],
      "name": "Owen Mchekeni"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Standing Voice, Lilongwe, Malawi"
      ],
      "name": "Lexxa Zachariah"
    }
  ],
  "title": "37 Exploring freedom and human rights of children and young persons with albinism in Malawi",
  "uid": "eea582b1-2f3e-54e0-afed-e8436a150bae"
}