Strengthening Irish-African Partnerships in Palliative Care – Webinar

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Background   

This webinar aims to build awareness of the need for palliative care in Africa, highlight the experiences of Irish–African initiatives that are contributing to improved end-of-life care, and explore how Ireland’s contribution might be strengthened through effective partnerships.  

The discussion will bring together a range of perspectives including initiatives from Malawi, Kenya and Uganda. Contributors will include representatives of Irish–African Partnerships, as well as the African Palliative Care Association.   

The webinar will showcase models of care that address suffering at the end of life and offer valuable lessons for strengthening palliative care provision more broadly.

Resources 

• Learn more about the African Palliative care Association (APCA).
• Learn more about Hospice Africa Uganda .
• Learn more about the Gorey Malawi Health Partnership.
• Learn more about the Anne Merriman award.
• APCA, ICPCN, St Jude and Stanford University will be running in pediatric palliative care course sometime in July 2026. Please do reach out if you would like to attend – [email protected] 

Readings 

• APCA Atlas of Palliative Care in Africa 2025.  Available from:  https://www.unav.edu/documents/30448903/31064575/dosier-prensa-africa-en.pdf/
• Relieve the suffering: palliative care for the next decade. Rosa, William E et al. The Lancet, Volume 405, Issue 10492, 1802 – 1804  Available from: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)00678-6/abstract

• Quality of life of cancer patients in palliative care in Northern Malawi: A descriptive and cross-sectional study. Sinyiza, Frank W et al. International Journal of Noncommunicable Diseases 10(4):p 200-206, Oct–Dec 2025. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/ijnc/fulltext/2025/10000/quality_of_life_of_cancer_patients_in_palliative.3.aspx 

Have a useful opportunity or resource to share? Please feel free to get in touch with us at [email protected] or [email protected].

Moderator   

Jean Callanan, Advocate for dying well and Chair of Irish Hospice Foundation.

Contributors   

Dr Eve Namisango, Executive Director at the African Palliative Care Association.

Eve is a palliative care and policy specialist with over fifteen years’ experience in service development, innovation, education and research. She is passionate about quality of death and dying, end of life care, and grief and bereavement. Eve pioneered the integration of the novel Children’s palliative care outcome scale (C-POS) into routine care to improve the quality of care for children and young people living with serious illnesses. She worked with communities to co-design interventions for grief and bereavement and psychotherapy intervention to improve end of life care experiences for patients with advanced disease and their families. Eve Holds masters and doctorate degrees in palliative care, policy and rehabilitation from King’s College London.

Dr Trish Scanlan, Director of Global Health at Children’s Health Ireland & CEO Tumaini La Maisha/ Their Lives Matter, Tanzania. 

Trish is an Irish Paediatric oncologist who has lived and worked in Tanzania since 2007, and is Director of Global Health at Children’s Health Ireland. In 2022, she was honored with an honorary doctorate by The Royal College of Surgeons. 

Miriam Donohoe, Communications consultant specialising in the development sector, Chronicler of Dr Anne Merriman’s life and volunteer at Hospice Africa Uganda. 

Dr Balwani Mbakaya, Associate Professor of Public Health at the University of Livingstonia, Malawi.  

Balwani is a Public Health Specialist with a focus in Field Epidemiology. He currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health at the University of Livingstonia, Malawi. In addition, he holds an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Biological Sciences at Mzuzu University and is a Visiting Associate Professor in the School of Medicine at University College Dublin, Ireland. Balwani plays a key leadership role in academic governance at the University of Livingstonia, where he chairs both the Postgraduate Committee and the University Research and Ethics Committee (UNILIAREC/IRB).

Dr Trevor Corrigan, Assistant Professor in General Practice in UCD, also GP partner in the Palms Surgery, Gorey, Wexford. 

Trevor’s work spans academic medicine, primary care, and community healthcare, with a focus on delivering high-quality clinical services and contributing to medical education. At UCD, Dr. Corrigan is involved in teaching, curriculum development, and mentorship of medical students. As a GP Partner, he plays a key role in practice operations, patient care, and population health initiatives. As part of the Gorey Malawi Health Partnership he has designed and facilitated workshops in Malawi as well as assisting in clinics and health screenings targeted at chronic disease.

Sr Anita Hubrich, Our Lady’s Hospice Thigio, Kenya.

Sr. Anita Hubrich is a Daughter of Charity and a qualified nurse in paediatrics, general nursing, and midwifery. She worked in Sierra Leone and Nigeria for ten years. Over the past twenty years, she has served in Kenya, including in Nairobi, Kiio in the Kituti Diocese, and for eight years in West Pokot. She has been working at Our Lady’s Hospice Thigio for the past three years. It is the only hospice in the area that admits patients for palliative care. The hospice has nine beds, and there is a high demand for admissions.

Caragh Munn, IGHN Partnerships Lead.

Caragh has experience in a variety of roles in Community and Global Health, managing and coordinating international partnerships and programs. Roles include working within the NGO sector, and time spent in Ethiopia supporting the National Network of People Living with HIV to deliver programmes to meet the needs of their members. She also has experience in bridging the gap between healthcare providers in Ireland and marginalised populations, having worked in Traveller Primary Healthcare Programmes and most recently in Social Prescribing.