Dear HIFA colleagues,
I attended Joseph's funeral with my wife yesterday. We were deeply moved by the love of his family and by the breadth and depth of his achievements.
These were all collated before the service into a marvellous celebration of life that included over 50 pages of messages of love, tributes and photos of his remarkable 73 years.
I first met Joseph in 1994 at a conference at the BMA office London, organised by Richard Smith (then editor-in-chief of the BMJ) and Carol Priestley (then director of INASP). For me, this was a turning point to dedicate my work to proomote universal access to reliable healthcare information. As a result I implemented the INASP-Health programme and later co-founded HIFA.
I am grateful for all the times we have worked together over more than 30 years, from my days at INASP through to the launch of HIFA and recent months where he continued to give generously of his time as a member of the HIFA steering group, frequently representing us at international meetings.
I urge you to read Richard Smith's obituary for Joseph, which has just been published in the BMJ: https://www.bmj.com/content/393/bmj.s953
Here are a few extracts:
==
The zenith of Joseph Ana’s passion to improve healthcare in Africa, particularly in his native Nigeria, came in 2004, when he was appointed health commissioner of Cross River State in the south east of the country...
During his tenure, maternal and child mortality fell, immunisation rates increased to 84%, and HIV seroprevalence halved. Among many improvements, a statewide ambulance service was created (a first for Nigeria), primary health clinics were established in every part of the state, and pharmacies no longer ran out of drugs. Patients regained trust in the health system...
Ana continued to advise Nigerian states on how to improve their health systems, including from his hospital bed as he was dying. In particular, he encouraged the introduction of the Practical Application to Care Kit* — a combination of simple, evidence based guidelines and training developed in South Africa to promote primary care in areas with no doctors or where they were poorly supported.
His daughter Mbang said that his heart was always in Africa, and while in Britain he founded the Nigerian Medical Forum, which worked both to help Nigerian doctors have a good experience in Britain and to improve the quality of health systems in Nigeria. One of its projects was to work with The BMJ to create BMJ West Africa, which Ana edited from 1995 to 2018.
Ana is survived by Arit, Mbang, Onebieni, and his grandchildren Ubu, Kwadjo, Arit, Erioluwa, and Ndemana. His daughter, Ubu, predeceased him.
Joseph Ndemana Onebieni Ana (b 1952; q University of Nigeria Medical School Nsukka 1978; FRCS, FRSPH), died from an unidentified primary cancer 3 April 2026
==
[*Note from NPW: An analysis of the Practical Approach to Care Kit is available here: https://www.bmj.com/content/363/bmj.k4451 It strongly supports the approach but as always, the challenge is implementation. The authors note: 'Delivering on universal primary healthcare requires a change in investments to prioritise comprehensive approaches that can meet the changing burden of disease'. I have a sense that if the implementation of PACK has not been as widespread as it could be, it is perhaps because it is ahead of its time. In the same vein, I see that Joseph was ahead of his time in many aspects. For example, immediately after the BMA conference in 1994, Joseph was already approaching publishers to reduce the prices of their journals for medical schools in Nigeria and had successfully persuaded at least two publishers to do so - a full 6 years before the launch of Hinari.
Despite all his achievements, another characteristic that defines Joseph was his humility. This was mentioned over and over during the service. As Richard wrote: 'Ana was a man of action who was undaunted. With a deep Christian faith, he greeted people with a smile and a hug. Always busy, nothing seemed to drag him down.'
I thank his daughter Mbang and all Joseph's family for welcoming us to Luton Christian Fellowship Church and enabling us to come together to celebrate his truly remarkable life.
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org