Living with sickle cell disease
Lizzy Owino's parents found out she had sickle cell disease when she was two months old growing up in Eldoret, Kenya. She endured horrible pain, and discrimination as a child but, at 36 years old and with new treatments on the way, she's hopeful there will be a cure soon.
Unlike many people with sickle cell disease, Lizzy's body didn't respond well to the most commonly used treatment for the disease - hydroxyurea. She is one of four people in Kenya who are receiving crizanlizumab (Adakveo) for free thanks to a Novartis access programme with the International Cancer Institute.
The drug is a monoclonal antibody that has been shown to reduce the frequency of painful crises familiar to many people with the hereditary disorder that is widespread in Africa.
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