Elizabeth Merab: Nation Media Journalist Dies After Battling Disease For 20 Years

Elizabeth Merab, a journalist at the Nation Media Group (NMG), passed away on Saturday, July 15 following a battle with sickle cell anaemia.

A source at the media house confirmed the death to Viral Tea, adding that she had died on Saturday morning at the age of 30.

In January 2023, Merab recounted receiving treatment at a local hospital where Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter (PICC) was installed on her right arm.

"How my Jan 2023 started, complete with a peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC line) on my right hand that is expected to stay there for the next 4 months! Where's my area MP I supply his area with stable power.

The late Elizabeth Merab at the Nation Media Group Centre in Nairobi in October 2022. /ELIZABETH MERAB

"I also had Trigger Point nerve blocks injections from my neck down to my lower back. You should have seen how Doc, who was holding 12-14" needles that were going through me was dancing to Kizz Daniel and Peru, Para as he came to shoot his shots on me. But this Doc makes my pain journey something of a marvel," she narrated in a Facebook post on January 11, 2023.

Regarding her condition, Merab revealed in a previous interview that she was diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia at the age of 10 and that her doctor informed her parents about her condition after what she described as so many painful tests.

“I had spent about 5 days in hospital with my mother. The doctor came and sat my parents in her office and as she was giving this news to them, I was behind the door on the other side and I just heard ‘Merab has Sickle Cell’,” she recalled.

While fighting back tears, Merab recalled her frequent hospital visits and being in the dark for 10 years before the diagnosis. She added that she was lucky her parents could afford the treatment.

"The disease can take a toll on anyone, people often doubted I was sick due to my physical appearance," she added.

Merab added that the disease took a toll on her mental health, social life, and financial capacity.

Despite her battle with the disease, Merab in 2021 became the first recipient Global Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Journalism Award by Amref Health Africa where she was awarded alongside World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the regional director of WHO-Africa, and Dr John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa CDC, who received an award for the leadership in global health respectively.

She has also been a health communications specialist, speaker, moderator, and trainer who has lent her expertise to organizations like the East African Community (EAC) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) Risk and Crisis Communication sub-working group to support Pandemic Preparedness in the East African region (PanPrep).

In 2021 she collaborated on a media project looking at how health issues are currently being covered in the news by Sparknews, Paris, France.

At NMG, Merab was a health and science journalist having worked for close to seven years. The award-winning journalist also covered environmental sexual, reproductive health, and maternal and child health issues.

Sickle Cell

According to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited red blood cell disorders.

Red blood cells contain haemoglobin, a protein that carries oxygen. Healthy red blood cells are round, and they move through small blood vessels to carry oxygen to all parts of the body.

In someone who has SCD, the haemoglobin is abnormal, which causes the red blood cells to become hard and sticky and look like a C-shaped farm tool called a “sickle.” The sickle cells die early, which causes a constant shortage of red blood cells.

Also, when they travel through small blood vessels, they get stuck and clog the blood flow. This can cause pain and other serious complications (health problems) such as infection, acute chest syndrome and stroke.

The late Nation Media Group Health Reporter Elizabeth Merab. /ELIZABETH MERAB