Andrew Sharp

Chair of the Standing Voice Skin Cancer Advisory Committee

By Standing Voice

December 17^th, 2019

Mr Andrew Sharp, the Chair of our Skin Cancer Advisory Committee, was raised in East Africa and developed his surgical expertise across the UK and Zimbabwe. In 2014, after combining a career in general practice and surgery in Leicester, he left general practice to specialise in skin cancer surgery within the Department of Dermatology in Leicester. He is a member of the British Society of Dermatological Surgeons, a Fellow of the Royal College of General Practitioners and a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Owing to his strong interest in skills-training for medical professionals who manage skin cancer in people with albinism, he first joined Standing Voice as a volunteer in 2017. Mr Sharp now leads the development of surgical training in Standing Voice’s Skin Cancer Prevention Programme and was the editor of our Manual of Best Practice.

Scroll down to read his inspiring story.

* * * * *

I grew up immersed in a strong family tradition of medicine, and in particular in medical work in East Africa where my father and grandparents spent most of their lives. My grandfather specialised in leprosy which at that time had similarities to albinism today in terms of social exclusion and risk of early death. Following an exciting and unusual upbringing in southwest Uganda, I began my professional journey by attending medical school in London. Here, I met my future wife, Marietta, a Zimbabwean occupational therapist in-training, and quickly realised we were kindred spirits. We have often travelled to African countries to see family and engage in voluntary work together.

Following my surgical training, I had the privilege of working in Zimbabwe and Uganda before returning to the UK to combine a surgical post with a partnership in a busy general practice in Leicester. In 2014 I left general practice entirely to focus my efforts on skin cancer surgery. I didn't know at the time, but this marked the beginning of my path to Standing Voice.

I grew up around people with albinism while in Uganda, and often felt for their difficult circumstances. Following my decision to specialise in skin cancer surgery, I looked to volunteer in Africa, where my wife and I had many fond connections. A desire to put my experience to use for people with albinism in Africa, due to their heightened risk of skin cancer and difficulty accessing the necessary healthcare, led me to Standing Voice. After discovering the charity's work and meeting with the Programmes Manager, Jamie Walling, I was pleased to learn that my experience was well-suited to help develop the Skin Cancer Prevention Programme, especially in assisting the development of surgical expertise in areas where local practitioners were struggling. I soon found myself in Mwanza, Tanzania, leading a surgical training workshop for local clinicians exactly 100 years after my grandfather worked in the same town. What a whimsical development!

The Skin Cancer Advisory Committee was born when Standing Voice asked myself, along with Dr. Wheeler in Ireland, Dr. Mavura in Tanzania and Dr. Levin in New York to form a committee of relevant medical experts to further the development of their work with people with albinism.

The role of the Skin Cancer Advisory Committee is to act as a knowledge base for Standing Voice and to help support the programme’s aims. We also advise on medical issues relating to individual patients, as well as the best ways to prevent and treat skin cancer, and contribute to the future development of the programme through collaborative strategy and research. My role as Chair of the committee involves leading the group and focusing its efforts where they’re needed most. Albinism is significantly under-researched, especially in Africa, and so we look for opportunities to conduct groundbreaking research to advance knowledge on albinism with the purpose of improving the standard of, and access to, critical healthcare.

Our Manual of Best Practice, launched earlier this year, is the product of collaborative efforts between Standing Voice and the Skin Cancer Advisory Committee. I'm pleased to have been the editor of this resource, responsible for pulling it all together into the comprehensive guide, a first of its kind, that is now distributed to healthcare professionals as well as healthcare organisations across the region. The launch of the manual at the World Congress of Dermatology in Milan, among 20,000 delegates, the President of the International League of Dermatological Societies and board members of the International Foundation of Dermatology, is certainly a personal highlight.

I have been working alongside Standing Voice for three years now. In that time I have experienced both immensely gratifying and challenging moments. Often, we come across people with albinism with advanced skin cancer that can no longer be cured. Knowing how preventable this condition is, it is emotionally testing to say the least to have to refer these patients to palliative care instead of curative treatment. However, where the Skin Cancer Prevention Programme is well-established, clinicians are now seeing no sun damage in a high proportion of children and are seeing adults with significantly fewer precursors to skin cancer. My role is often very satisfying, as skin cancer surgery is usually effective and can be successfully carried out with inexpensive equipment and local anaesthesia. Thankfully, the skills-training we have delivered to local healthcare professionals in collaboration with locally-based clinicians has resulted in people with albinism not having to travel long distances to major cities for skin cancer treatment, where there is often a shortage of surgeons and an even greater shortage of surgeons with expertise in skin cancer. Owing to the Skin Cancer Prevention Programme, many people with albinism can now expect to survive and see their grandchildren grow up.

I hope, one day, to see skin cancer surgeons for people with albinism become redundant thanks to skin cancer becoming rare due to effective preventative measures. But until then, there are many patients to diagnose and a lot of surgeries to deliver for people with albinism, and I am delighted to be part of the locally based and international team involved in training to make this hope a reality with Standing Voice.

Footnotes

Cover photo by Andrew Sharp

DONATE

FootNotes

Cover photo by Andrew Sharp