Lucia Syokau Muli found out she had breast cancer at the age of 27. We met her in Makueni, south of Nairobi, to understand how she is dealing with her diagnosis and the challenges she faces accessing treatment.
This content was published on
1 minute
I am an experienced video journalist passionate about making complex topics accessible and engaging through compelling multimedia storytelling. Focused on social and environmental issues, I produce various video formats on a wide range of topics, specialising in impactful explainer videos with motion graphics and stop-motion animation.
During my studies in cinema, English literature and journalism, I’ve gained experience in radio, television, and print across Switzerland. After working with the Locarno Film Festival’s image & sound team, I joined SWI swissinfo.ch in 2018 to produce local and international reportages.
I report on the Swiss pharmaceutical industry and healthcare topics such as access to medicine, biomedical innovation, and the impact of diseases like cancer.
I grew up just outside San Francisco and studied international affairs with a focus on development economics and healthcare policy. Prior to joining SWI swissinfo.ch in 2018, I was a freelance journalist and a researcher on business and human rights.
Cost is one of Lucia’s biggest worries, she tells SWI when we meet outside the Empower cancer clinic at the county hospital. The biggest financial strain is the recurring cost of trastuzumab, which Swiss pharma firm Roche sells as Herceptin and is credited with dramatically improving survival rates.
Although it’s been around for more than two decades, it remains unaffordable for many people in Kenya, where some 45% of the population live below the World Bank’s poverty line of $2.15 a day. One of the recommended 18 cycles cost more than double Lucia’s monthly income.
She isn’t alone. The cost of treatment is one of the biggest challenges facing doctors who have to make difficult decisions of whether to prescribe a treatment that will save a patient’s life but plunge them into poverty.
More
More
Paying to survive – the deadly toll of breast cancer in Kenya
This content was published on
In Kenya, the high price of drugs like trastuzumab, which Roche sells as Herceptin, is one reason why breast cancer is still seen as a death sentence.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
The end of affordable medicine
This content was published on
Pharma companies are close to a cure for cancer, but will the hefty price tags make treatments unaffordable for most of the world?
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.