Dr Anne Merriman, UCD Medicine alumnus and founder of Hospice Africa Uganda, has passed away peacefully in her home in Kampala, Uganda, last night surrounded by her family and loved ones.
Dr Merriman celebrated her 90th birthday on Tuesday, May 13th with a Mass in her home. She had been in poor health for some time.
Dr Merriman graduated from UCD Medicine in 1963. Following her graduation from UCD Medicine, Dr Merriman worked for 33 years in Africa – 10 years were in Nigeria as a missionary doctor and 20 years in Uganda. She also worked seven years in Southeast Asia, eight years in the UK, and five years in Ireland.
Founder and Director of Policy and International Programs, Hospice Africa Uganda from 1993, Dr Merriman helped so many people receive palliative care in Uganda, improve affordable access to morphine, and improve the lives of patients and their families. She supported new initiatives in Tanzania, Nigeria, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, Malawi, Ethiopia, Zambia, Sudan and Rwanda. She was known as the “mother of palliative care in Africa”.
Dr Merriman established the Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care in Africa, (IHPCA) headquartered at HAU, which today offers master’s, bachelor’s, and diploma programmes in palliative care, and has trained hundreds of students from 37 African countries.
Under her leadership, HAU expanded, establishing Mobile Hospice Mbarara and Little Hospice Hoima in 1998. Additionally, she played a key role in founding both the Palliative Care Association of Uganda (PCAU) and the African Palliative Care Association (APCA), dedicated to broadening palliative care access.
Dr Merriman introduced palliative care into Singapore in 1985, which became an accepted form of care with the founding of the Hospice Care Association in 1989.
Dr Merriman's remarkable contributions earned her global recognition. She was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2003 for her services to health in Uganda and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize the following year. Always proud of her Irish roots, she was honoured in 2013 with the Presidential Distinguished Service Award by President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins.
Her accolades also included honorary doctorates from institutions such as UCD and Edge Hill University. In 2016, she was named UCD Alumnus of the Year in Health Sciences. Beyond her clinical work, Dr Merriman was an esteemed educator, serving as an Honorary Teaching Fellow at Lancaster University and an Honorary Professor of Palliative Care at Makerere University in Kampala.
In September 2023, Dr Merriman published her autobiography ''That's How the Light Got In'' and in November 2023, UCD hosted a celebration of Hospice Africa Uganda’s 30-year anniversary.
We send our deepest condolences to Dr Merriman’s family and friends.
May she rest peacefully.
Photo 1: Dr Anne Merriman
Photo 2: Dr Anne Merriman at her Medicine conferral ceremony at UCD in 1963.
Photo 3: Dr Anne Merriman speaking from Uganda via Zoom with two Ugandan nurses and Hospice Africa Uganda colleagues Roselight Katushabe (left) and Dianah Basirika (right) who had travelled to Ireland to mark the anniversary of 30 years of Hospice Africa Uganda at the event in the UCD University Club in November 2023 – 60 years after Photo 1 was taken.