If there is a demand, there will be a supply. It is the simplest rule of commerce and despite the laws and the penalties attached, from gambling to drugs to prostitution, no one has yet found a way to stop the suppliers from meeting the needs of the 'demanders'.

And, as today's WEEKEND STAR shows, that simple rule of commerce also applies to the skin-bleaching products that the Ministry of Health is doing its best to get rid of.

On the face of it, it should be easy. Skin bleaching is a sure and terrible way to destroy the body's first line of defence against the elements: the skin.

The ministry's officials could trot out the facts about the cases of skin cancer that have resulted from bleaching - and we are sure that they have.

It has not made a difference. The vendors are still there with their little bags of potions, filling the demand.

While the persons trying to enforce the ban have the noblest of intentions, they are starting at the wrong end of the bleaching process. When some one applies bleaching potions to their skin, it is not the start of one process, but the end of another.

Brainwashed

Their minds have been conditioned towards self-hatred and they seek lighter skin as a path towards acceptance or, failing that, simply to be noticed and feel good about themselves.

The Ministry of Health faces the dilemma of all the authorities which try to separate people from the illegal items they demand, of trying to control the supply side of the equation. It is the easier and more high-profile thing to do, but in the end it is usually futile.

But in this case, addressing the demand by tackling the psychological factors which lead to skin bleaching, reducing demand, is a very complicated, very difficult task.