When the WHO reports on melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, show alarming results, a 14-year-old US teenager, Hemen Bekele, brings a soap to fight skin cancer. The young scientist says that the soap has essential ingredients that can reactivate the skin-protecting cells and thus fight the disease.
This invention has brought the young boy a place among the top Young Scientists in the USA. He has also bagged $25000 in the competition against nine other participants.
Bekele is a student of the 9th standard. Keeping the accessibility of the soaps in mind, he said that the soaps would cost less than $10. About the win, the young scientist said, “To see that all of the hard work paid off in the end, it was a surreal experience.”
Bekele had this idea of inventing a soap when he was staying in Ethiopia, and he found people around him working hard in the Sun. This situation prompted him to create something that would help people at risk of developing skin cancer. So, he started his research and finally came up with the soap to fight skin cancer.
“I wanted to make my idea something that not only was great in terms of science but also could be accessible to as many people as possible,” said Bekele.
The teenager has an inquisitive mind, and he thinks that his invention will help people who are suffering from this deadly health condition. Once the soap gets the necessary approvals and accreditations and becomes available in the market, it will be a big leap in the treatments for skin cancer. The World Health Organization says that there are around 2-3 million cases of non-melanoma skin cancers that occur every year, and there are instances of close to 1,32,000 melanoma skin cancers every year.
Three types of skin cancer affect people. These cancer types are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma.
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