Sickle Cell: A strange malaria advantage, but not immunity

Yvonne Adhiambo (in t shirt), a mother of two from Obunga, Kisumu, knows this first-hand.Her firstborn child does not have SCD, but her second child was diagnosed with the condition at the age of three. She's joined with Sharon Awuor, chief executive officer of Peperusha Binti  [ Rodgers Otiso]

For Rehema Ogutu, malaria is strangely not the enemy she has spent most of her life fearing.

Diagnosed with sickle cell disease (SCD) when she was only six months old, the 44-year-old has endured years of hospital admissions, blood transfusions and painful crises. Yet, living in Kisumu, a region where malaria remains a major public health concern, she says the mosquito-borne disease has barely featured in her long medical journey.