SPEAKER PROFILES:

Dr Christian Ntizimira
Christian Ntizimira is the Founder/Executive Director of the African Center for Research on End-of-Life Care (ACREOL), a non-profit organization to bring socio-cultural equality through “Ubuntu in End-of-life Care” in Africa.

He is a Fulbright Alumni and graduated from Harvard Medical School, department of Global Health and Social Medicine.  Dr Ntizimira is the winner of the prestigious Tällberg-Stervos Niarcos Foundation-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize 2021, for his passionate advocacy for palliative care in Rwanda and elsewhere in Africa, based on his deeply held belief that dignified end-of-life care is a human right.

He pioneered integration of palliative care and end of life care into health services rendered to Rwandan cancer patients and in the community settings.  Through his leadership more than 1500 health care providers and community health workers have learned the principles of cancer prevention control & palliative care leading to a five-fold increase in prescription of morphine, an essential pain medication. In 2016 Dr Ntizimira was awarded as a young cancer leader and world cancer Regional, lead in 2018 for his outstanding contributions in cancer control in Rwanda and in Africa.

He was a member of the scientific Advisory Committee for the Lancet Commission on Global Access to Palliative Care and Pain Control published in 2018 and commissioner for the Lancet Oncology Commission on Cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa published in 2022. In 2018 he became the first advocacy/policy champion among extraordinary individuals who are making a significant contribution to developing palliative care in low- and middle-income countries for World Hospice and Palliative Care Alliance (WHPCA). From 2010–13, he was the director of Kibagabaga Hospital in Kigali.

Mackuline Atieno
Executive Director, Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA)

Mackuline is a Palliative Care Nurse and Medical Anthropologist with over 12 years’ experience in palliative care development. She is passionate about improving health outcomes through research and evidence based practice; and use of technology.

Before Joining KEHPCA, Mackuline worked with the African Palliative Care Association. She has provided technical support and management for more than 10 multi-partnership and multi-country projects in African countries including Botswana, Eswatini, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe as well as Kenya.

She has been involved in palliative care policy reviews and development, research and development of palliative care information, education and communication materials and e learning at national and regional levels.

Mackuline holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing, Diploma in Palliative Care, and is completing a Masters in Medical Anthropology.

Moderator: Dr Zipporah Ali
MD, MPH, MPC, HonDUniv
Chair of Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance Kenya
Technical Advisor/Consultant/Researcher 

Zipporah Ali has recently retired from the position of Executive Director of Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA), a position she held for 15 years.  She serves on the board of several organizations including; Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association, International Children’s Palliative Care Network (ICPCN), City Cancer Challenge, Alzheimer/Dementia Kenya, Public Health and Palliative Care International and Kenya Network of Cancer Organizations (KENCO). She has previously served on several other global, regional and national boards.

Dr. Ali has been and continues to be involved in advocacy and creating awareness on pain relief and palliative care in Kenya for children and adults as well as Universal Health Coverage. In her leadership role as the Executive Director for KEHPCA, she was very instrumental in fostering strong relationships with the Ministry of Health to integrate palliative care into government hospitals. She was also instrumental in advocating for palliative care to be included in the undergraduate medical and nursing schools in Kenya. She is a strong advocate for cancer prevention, control and treatment and was instrumental in developing the first National Cancer Control Strategy and the National Guidelines for Cancer Management-Kenya. She has also advocated for palliative care to be integrated in other non-communicable diseases as well as infectious diseases.

Dr. Ali has been involved in a number of activities at the World Health Assembly (Geneva) and the UN High Level Meetings on Non-communicable diseases. She is a strong advocate for right to health for all and a supporter of the movement on meaningful involvement of persons living with serious health conditions and leaving no one behind.

Dr. Ali holds an MD from Ege University, Izmir, Turkey, a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the University of Nairobi, a Higher Diploma in Palliative Care from Oxford Brookes University and a Masters in Palliative Care from the University of Dundee. She has completed the International Pain Policy Fellow program with the International Pain Policy Studies Group (WHO Collaborating Centre for Policy and Communication in Cancer Care, University of Wisconsin) as well as Higher Diploma in the International Palliative Care Leadership Development Initiative at The Institute of Palliative Medicine at the San Diego Hospice.
She has received a number of awards in recognition of her work nationally and globally. These include:

• Doctor of Law Honoris Causa-University of Dundee (2018)
• International Humanitarian Award-Women4Africa (2018)
• Social Impact Award for the Sub-Saharan Africa region-British Council (2018)
• Honorary Doctor of the University by Oxford Brookes University (2012)
• Individual Advocacy Award by the African Palliative Care Association and Open Society Foundations (2013
• African Palliative Care Award –(In recognition for being on the interim board and later serving on the board for 2 terms) -2007