Letter from Dr. Anne Merriman to HAI, HAU and HA UK 28 May 2008

Dear All,

I am delighted to share the news that Dr Mhoira Leng, was appointed the first head of Unit for the Palliative Medicine Unit in the Department of Internal Medicine at Makerere University on 23 May 2008.

As many of you are aware, we have been working on this new venture with the University for several years now. Teaching of Palliative Medicine was introduced for medical students at Makerere in 1993 and has been examinable for undergraduates since 1998. The Distance Learning Diploma for Africa from HAU and Makerere has been running since 2003 and is now being considered for upgrading to degree level. Palliative care is now an essential clinical service for all Ugandans as stated in the National Health Strategic plan in 2000 and 2006.

All these needs throughout the country and extending to Africa, will be enhanced by this first Palliative Medicine Department within Internal Medicine at this renowned University.

Mhoria Leng, a Consultant in Palliative Medicine, comes to us from Scotland but has had academic experience in commencing the Palliative Medicine Department in Aberdeen and more recently working with academic units in the developing world. She is known internationally as well as in UK. She is the founder and Medical Director of Cairdeas, a registered charity that promotes palliative medicine education in developing countries. We are very pleased to welcome her. We are privileged to have the support of her and her Charity. The website for Cairdeas is www.cairdeas.org.uk

Mhoira will need a lot of support in this challenging post and we ask your prayers for her. She will commence mid August.

Meanwhile we do face challenges in the financial support of this new department. It is the first academic department in a University in this part of SSA and very much needed. We will be asking for your ideas on this from time to time.

Finally I wish to thank all of you who have prayed and assisted in so many ways for this new department to come to fruition with a gracious leader who can carry it forward to the future, train Ugandans in academic excellences in the speciality of palliative medicine and promote this care throughout Uganda and Africa so that suffering may be appeased and peace, through holistic care, be brought to all in need.

Anne
Dr Anne Merriman, MBE, FRCP,
Founder, Director of Policy and International Programmes,
Hospice Africa Uganda