MediaLab Investigation: the 6th investigation published looks into sickle cell anaemia among children in Siwa Oasis, Egypt

12 years ago, Ali Kocha and his wife lost their two-year old daughter, Hind, before they managed to reach the city of Marsa Matruh. They were making the 300 km journey from Siwa Oasis where they lived in order for Hind to receive a blood transfusion that could have saved her life. The couple had already lost one child, Yasmine, and three of their children were suffering from sickle cell anaemia, a genetic condition that had claimed the lives of their sisters.

In her investigation published in the Egyptian Al-Watan daily newspaper, Shymaa Adel revealed that consanguine marriages and a lack of due diligence when conducting the pre-marital medical examinations required to conclude a marriage certificate contributed to more and more people from the oases of Siwa and Bahariya being afflicted with this genetic and therefore hereditary disease.

The Egyptian investigative journalist shined a spotlight on this chronic disease and exposed the shortcomings in the healthcare system and lack of haematologists, which put children suffering from sickle cell anaemia at mortal risk.

Her investigation is the sixth to be published as part of the MédiaLab Investigation project after that of Asaad Zalzali on the trafficking of medicines in Iraq, that of Saïd Akrout on breast cancer in southern Tunisia, that of Dorra Abdelkader on psychological violence committed against women in Tunisia, that of Wafa Arouri on the mismanagement of public hospitals in the Palestinian Territories, and that of Rakia Selmi on healthcare-deprived women from remote regions of Tunisia.

Médialab Investigation is providing support for the production of eight investigations in the area of health in the form of training sessions, personalised support and a financial contribution to the costs of conducting the investigations.

Shymaa Adel’s investigation is available to read (in Arabic) on the Al-Watan website