Senegalese laboratory pioneers affordable drug production, introducing generic hydroxyurea, the first of its kind in Africa and the gold standard for treating sickle cell disease.
Mamadou Tahirou is 18 but looks more like a 12-year-old, his frame frail from the ravages of sickle cell disease, which one Senegalese laboratory is hoping to attenuate with affordable drug production.
The lab is producing generic hydroxyurea, the gold standard in sickle cell treatment, for the first time ever in Africa.
Speaking to AFP from his family home near Dakar, Tahirou, eyes bulging and features marked by fatigue, described a life dictated by the hereditary disease, which affects nearly eight million people worldwide.
Bone pain, severe anaemia, extreme fatigue and intense headaches: these symptoms frequently land him in the hospital, Tahirou said, while his 40-year-old mother, Rabiatou, watched helplessly nearby, her eyes swelling with tears.
