Hospice Africa Uganda has announced the death of its much-loved and visionary founder, Dr. Anne Merriman, MBE, who passed away peacefully at her home in Munyonyo, Kampala, on Sunday, May 18, aged 90.
A tireless advocate for compassionate care, Dr. Merriman’s passing marks the end of an era for both Uganda and the global palliative care movement. Often called the “mother of palliative care in Africa,” she introduced affordable, home-based end-of-life care to thousands of patients across the continent.
Dr. Merriman had been in declining health and had just celebrated her 90th birthday on May 13 with close friends and her Ugandan family.
Born in Liverpool, England, in 1935 to Irish parents, she joined the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Ireland and trained in medicine at University College Dublin. Her early career took her to Nigeria, where her passion for serving the poor began. Though she left the order in her 30s, she maintained her deep faith and a lifelong commitment to humanitarian service.
Over the years, Dr. Merriman worked across the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, and Kenya, specialising in tropical medicine and community health. But it was in Uganda where she would leave her most lasting mark.
In 1993, at age 57, Dr. Merriman founded Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU), which started palliative care servicers in Uganda, operating from a modest two-bedroom house loaned by Nsambya Hospital. She is also credited with the oral liquid morphine reconstitution model that the Uganda government has adopted to avail oral liquid morphine to all in need of palliative care in Uganda. Other African countries have also come to Uganda and replicated the model in their countries. This model, centred on using affordable oral morphine for pain relief and training local healthcare workers in holistic palliative care, revolutionised services for patients with life-limiting illnesses.
Driven by her vision of palliative care for all, she established the Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care in Africa (IHPCA), which offers degree and diploma programmes and has trained professionals from 37 African countries. She also spearheaded the founding of Mobile Hospice Mbarara and Little Hospice Hoima in 1998, as well as the Palliative Care Association of Uganda (PCAU) over 25 years ago and a founding member of the African Palliative Care Association, a pan-African organisation headquartered in Uganda to serve the African continent.
Her efforts gained global recognition. In 2003, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to health in Uganda and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. In 2013, she received the Presidential Distinguished Service Award from Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins, among other accolades, including honorary doctorates and teaching appointments at Lancaster University and Makerere University.
Dr. Merriman chronicled her journey in her memoirs Audacity to Love (2010) and How the Light Got In (2023), published to mark HAU’s 30th anniversary. In the “Audacity to Love” she tells the story of Hospice Africa Uganda and palliative care. These resources are available for sale at Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU) and Dr. Anne desired that proceeds will go towards supporting continuity of the work of HAU.
She’s a sounding board for many; a transformational leader, a parent, a mentor, a great thinker, an inspirer, a motivator, a counsellor, believer with strong, unshakable spirituality, an excellent active listener who’s able to listen and see to that that’s not being said.
“She was a visionary leader whose compassion and innovation have touched countless lives,” said HAU Executive Director Prossy Nakyanja. “We mourn her deeply but take immense pride in her legacy. Her mission will continue — that is what she would have wanted.”
“Dr. Anne always wanted to learn from others; young and adults, patients, team etc and gave us countless insightful and memorable lessons too, one of which is the need to respect everyone, others’ culture and (patients’) choices,” said Germans Natuhwera, Program Manager, Little Hospice Hoima.
“Her seminal palliative care works and contributions to the growth and development of palliative care in Uganda and across the whole of Africa stand tall. She leaves behind an incredible legacy that should inspire and challenge us to preserve and build on it for even greater developments and sustainability of palliative care.”
During her final public appearance on her 90th birthday, Dr. Merriman offered a heartfelt message:
“I want to tell you all — the team, the patients, family — I love you. Our love comes from God and our compassion comes from the example of the good Samaritan. Compassion is such an important thing for us, not only in our work, but also with each other.”
Reflecting on her life, she added: “When I look back, I see that I moved from place to place and didn’t know why. But God knew. There is nowhere I would rather be cared for than here, by my Ugandan family.”
Dr. Merriman is survived by her cousins in the UK and Ireland, including Michael Merriman, Eileen Evans, and Patsy Beddoe-Stephens, as well as her nieces and extended family in Dublin. She is also mourned by her devoted Ugandan family — Anne Bisaso, Margaret Kazibwe, and Alice Kabaseke — who cared for her in her final years, and by the global palliative care community that continues to build on her work.
Her legacy lives on in every life touched by the care she pioneered — a legacy of dignity, compassion, and love.
