BBC News presenter Maryam Moshiri has revealed she was diagnosed with an incurable blood cancer called Polycythaemia vera (PV) nearly two years ago, a rare condition that causes the bone marrow to overproduce red blood cells, thickening the blood. Though untreatable, PV can be managed like a chronic illness, and Moshiri has continued working on air throughout gruelling treatment, including covering the Pope's death and the papal conclave while battling chronic fatigue.

Moshiri, 49, first discovered the condition via a routine menopause-related blood test and initially needed more than a pint of blood drawn monthly, later switching to an immunotherapy drug called interferon, which brought side effects such as insomnia, headaches and severe itching. She said the illness left her too exhausted at times to play with her three children, Iris, 13, Vivienne, 11, and Caspian, nine, and described having to adjust to a life built around hospital appointments and medication. She is now backing Blood Cancer UK's "Here for This" campaign, with the charity's chief executive Helen Rowntree praising her openness about a disease that is the UK's fifth most common cancer and third biggest cancer killer.