I was sad to learn about the death of former HIFA member and regular contributor Anne Merriman. Below are extracts from her obituary in The BMJ.
https://www.bmj.com/content/389/bmj.r1189
'[Anne Merriman] approached the Ugandan government with a plan for a model hospice and Hospice Africa Uganda opened in 1993 when Merriman was 59 — an age when many people think of retiring. She worked until days before her death just after her 90th birthday...
'Uganda became the first African country to allow nurses and trained clinical officers to prescribe opioid analgesics. This was essential as doctors are scarce in rural areas, which account for 90% of the population.
'Archbishop emeritus Desmond Tutu said in 2018, “Anne has created a uniquely African template of love, dignity, care, and compassion for people.”...'
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