Genetic Disorder: Albinism Counselling Through a Mobile Phone Platform in Developing Countries

Abstract

A congenital disorder (albinism) is characterized by a complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes without effective counselling and education to the patients in Africa is of great concern. This paper investigated how people living with albinism are counseled and educated in South Africa. The study employed a case study approach in data collection. It was revealed that the number of trained genetic nurse counsellors in South Africa are few and this makes it extremely difficult for the counsellors to offer counselling support to albinos. Majority of the albinos travel long distances to city clinics for help. It was further discovered that almost ninety percent of both the counsellors and albinos own mobile or smart phones which can be used as a communication tool to counsel the albinos. However, this is not the case. The findings lead to the proposal of Genetic disorder counselling mobile phone platform – (GDCMPP) to enhance interaction between albinos and genetic nurse to improve education, and counselling services to the albinos.