In Memoriam: Dr Anne Merriman
Dr Anne Merriman, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) and distinguished palliative care doctor, died peacefully in her home in Kampala, Uganda on Sunday 18 May, 2025. She had just celebrated her 90th birthday a few days prior.
Born 13 May 1935 in Liverpool, England, Merriman moved to Ireland when she turned eighteen to enter missionary work. She stated that at the age of thirteen, she had watched a film (Visitation, 1947) about the Irish medical nuns in Africa and decided at that moment, that would be the order she would join; and that is exactly what she did when she joined the Medical Missionaries of Mary (MMM) in Drogheda in 1953. She recalled that her calling came when she was four, exclaiming she wanted to “go and help the suffering of Africa” when she grew up.
After 20 years of missionary and medical work, she went back to Merseyside, England to be with her mother until her death. Following that, she pursued her Masters in International Community Health at Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine before travelling to Malaysia and Singapore to teach. She commenced a medical volunteer service to carry out home care, which eventually led to the establishment of the Hospice Care Association of Singapore, an organisation that still runs successfully today. She found that patients who had not responded to specific treatment were going home in severe pain with no pain control – something that disheartened her. It was because of this that she developed a formula for pure oral morphine, to better ease her patients and allow them to respite in their own homes. Dr Anne Merriman introduced palliative care to Singapore in 1985, treating over 450 patients, gaining the experience to train others. This experience, coupled with the accessibility of oral morphine and research formed what she called a “gateway” to holistic palliative care in Africa.
In 1989, she was invited to Nairobi to become the first Medical Director of Nairobi Hospice – the first hospice to be established with the needs of African patients in mind. Merriman’s success in Singapore made her perfect for the job. As Director from 1990, she cared for patients, introducing affordable and accessible oral morphine to patients. Up until this point, only codeine was available and even that was reserved for the wealthy. After the publication of an article (see below) detailing her work with patients, their pain and peaceful passing, other countries started contacting her to share her work and expertise. These included Cameroon, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, and Uganda, who at the time were being devastated by cancer and the AIDs epidemic. She considered the idea of developing a model that was “culturally suitable and affordable” that could be applied to other countries. After getting some funding and conducting pilot studies, Merriman, along with her colleagues, spread the ethos of Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU). Ireland continued to support the organisation predominantly through the Agency for Personal Services Overseas (APSO), but she was also supported through the Irish Hospice Foundation and even the Irish Teachers’ Union.

Merriman, Anne. (1991) 'Living While Dying', Contact, No. 122, pp.14
Thanks to the work of Dr Anne Merriman and her colleagues, over 35,000 patients were cared for, with many being able to return to their homes with adequate pain relief for their final stage of life. She advocated and empowered patients and their families, and many of these families continued to financially contribute to the organisation even after their loved ones passed – a testament to the care and support given by Dr Merriman and her team.
Hospice Africa Uganda paved the way for the establishment of the Institute of Hospice and Palliative Care in Africa, which to this day offers Masters, Bachelors and Diploma degrees for African health professionals. Palliative care has been incorporated into all medical curricula in Uganda. In 2004, she was a founding member of the African Palliative Care Association, which plays a central role in organising and advocating for the integration of palliative care into Africa-wide health systems.
Dr Merriman was nominated for Fellowship of RCPI in 1988. She became the 56th female Fellow in the College’s history when she was admitted on 7 September 1988.

Dr Merriman's signature in the RCPI Fellowship rollbook, 7 September 1988
In 2024, we launched the Lives of the Fellows project, celebrating the centenary of the College’s admission of the first female Fellow. We invited female Fellows from all over the world to join us in the celebrations. Dr Merriman, while unable to fly over to Ireland for the event, left us a wonderful message in her absence:
So sorry, I will be unable to attend. I am now resident in Uganda where I have been for the last 31 years and where I introduced palliative medicine and home care for the first time in 1993.
I am now 89 years young but showing signs of old age. Because of which I am unable to fly any more by plane but will need wings for my next journey.
Wishing you all a successful day. Sorry, unable to travel to Ireland although would love to join you. Perhaps I am one of the oldest of the female Fellows, as will be 90 in May 2025. Sorry unfit to fly but will be with you all in spirit at your celebrations.
She believed in everyone’s right to dignity and the communal responsibility to care for one another in a hospitable and compassionate way. We wish to extend our condolences to all those that knew and worked with Dr Anne Merriman throughout her long and accomplished life. May she rest in peace.
