From Liverpool to Uganda: Dr. Anne Merriman’s Mission of Mercy
Dr. Merriman passed away peacefully at her home in Kampala on May 18, 2025, just five days after her 90th birthday.
Dr Anne Merriman the founded Hospice Africa Uganda during interview at her Home in Munyonyo on July 09, 2024.(Photo by Mary Kansiime)
By Jackie Achan
Journalists @New Vision
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Born in Liverpool in 1935, Dr. Anne Merriman made a promise as a child — to care for the sick — and she never looked back.
That vow carried her across continents and through decades, from war-torn Nigeria to the heart of Uganda, where she built a legacy of compassion through palliative care.
Dr. Merriman passed away peacefully at her home in Kampala on May 18, 2025, just five days after her 90th birthday. Her life was one of service, spirit, and bold choices that changed end-of-life care for millions.
Inspired early by a calling
As bombs fell over Britain during WWII, a young Anne was struck by a photo in a missionary journal — sick children in Africa. “When I grow up,” she told her mother, “I want to be a nurse and care for them.”
That calling never wavered. At 18, she joined the Medical Missionaries of Mary in Ireland. Instead of nursing, she trained as a doctor and was soon sent to Nigeria, where she worked as a surgeon, paediatrician, and general physician.
Dr Anne and Cherie Blair receiving Fellowship Award for humanitarian work 2011. (Courtesy photo)
“I absolutely loved it,” she said of her time there — even amid war, shortages, and treating hundreds of patients with little more than determination.
Breaking away, moving forward
After 20 years with the religious order, Merriman began to feel constrained. “I had ideas, but needed permission from people who weren’t doctors,” she recalled.
She left the order and returned to the UK, caring for her ailing mother and transitioning into geriatric medicine. She later helped launch the first UK course in the field at the University of Liverpool.
The birth of a new vision
In the 1980s, she moved to Malaysia and Singapore, where, by night and weekend, she and a small team cared for the dying. “No time for myself,” she said, “but I loved every minute.” That volunteer effort helped spark Singapore’s palliative care movement.
Then, a conference brought her back to Africa — to Kenya’s Nairobi Hospice, where patients were in agony without proper pain relief. She helped introduce a breakthrough: affordable oral morphine.
Uganda: A home for hospice
In 1993, Merriman chose Uganda as the base for a new model of palliative care. With a small team, she founded Hospice Africa Uganda, bringing pain relief and dignity to patients with HIV, cancer, and other terminal illnesses.
With government backing and international support, Merriman helped train doctors and nurses, eventually inspiring services in 37 African countries.
Legacy of love
Hospice Africa Uganda has faced funding struggles in recent years, but Merriman remained hopeful. “We’ve helped others, and some are doing better than us. But we keep going.”
She was most proud of the people: nurses sitting with patients, students graduating with palliative care degrees, and families who continued to support the work after losing loved ones.
One such patient, Catherine, now 25, was just 14 when Merriman found her with an inoperable tumour. Though she couldn’t return to school, Merriman helped her learn tailoring. “She’s one of the few who truly cares,” Catherine said.
A life well lived
Dr. Merriman’s work was rooted in one belief: “All religions were founded in compassion.” At her hospice in Kampala, she made sure every visitor felt like they were coming home.
As Uganda’s model of care faces new challenges, her message endures: the heart of hospice is not in hospitals, but in homes, love, and presence.
To honor her legacy or support her work, visit:
Uganda: https://www.hospice-africa.org/donate-uganda/
Global: Global Giving