Parents Who Bleach Their Babies’ Skin Could Face Jail Time – CDD-Ghana Warns

A disturbing new investigation by JoyNews and Nigeria Health Watch has revealed a rising and alarming trend in Ghana: parents bleaching the skin of their babies and young children in a bid to achieve lighter complexions.

Aired on Monday, June 2nd, the exposé uncovered a growing culture in communities like Chorkor, where skin tone is increasingly seen as a status symbol. This obsession has pushed some parents to apply dangerous creams and even household bleach to their children’s skin.

These creams often contain harmful ingredients banned by Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), including hydroquinone, mometasone, and tretinoin. In more extreme cases, caregivers reportedly use industrial bleach products like hypochlorite-based solutions sold under brand names such as “Parazone.”

In response to the investigation, Mr. Kwame Sarpong Asiedu, D&D Fellow on Public Health at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), issued a strong condemnation, warning that such practices not only endanger children’s health but also violate existing laws.

“A cream that contains a banned substance or a prescription-only ingredient constitutes a clear breach of the Food and Drugs Authority’s laws,” he stated. “The person importing is a criminal, the person selling is a criminal, and the person using is a criminal. A parent who looks on is also criminally culpable because they allow harm to come to a child.”

Mr. Asiedu stressed the need for stricter enforcement of FDA regulations and called for criminal prosecution of individuals involved in the importation, sale, or use of banned bleaching agents—especially when children are the victims.

Health experts have long warned of the dangers associated with skin bleaching, which include severe skin damage, infections, and long-term health complications. The use of such substances on infants and toddlers, whose skin is even more sensitive, could result in irreversible harm.

The revelations have sparked national outrage and ignited calls for more robust public health education, regulatory enforcement, and child protection measures.

As the country grapples with this unfolding crisis, stakeholders are urging both government agencies and communities to work together to end the harmful practice of child bleaching and hold perpetrators accountable.