speakers

Dr Tracy Irura is a Senior Registrar in Clinical Oncology at Kenyatta University Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital.

She holds a Master’s in Clinical Oncology and Nuclear Medicine from Alexandria University, Egypt.

Dr Irura is the co-founder of the Integrated Cancer Research Foundation of Kenya an NGO that seeks to rid Africa of the cancer burden and be a leading cancer research organization in the world.

Dr Nafula is a Palliative Care & Pain Management Specialist based at the Kenyatta National Hospital where I head the Pain & Palliative Care Unit. She is very passionate about palliative care and is actively involved in making services and education available in Kenya. She has volunteered for Coast, Kakamega and Nairobi Hospices in the past. Dr Nafula holds a Master of Science and Diploma for Higher Education in Palliative Care from Oxford Brookes University. She also holds a Certificate in Teaching and Learning for Higher Education from the same University and a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Nairobi. She is a member of the Kenya Society for Pain and part of our agenda is training health care providers on proper pain assessment and management. She is a tutor at Oxford Brookes University and a member of the International Cancer Institute (ICI) faculty. Her roles involve teaching in various palliative care programs for health care providers across the country, taking care of patients and families needing palliative care and advocating for availability of opioid analgesics.

Dr. 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 into 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 the 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 a 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 teams) -2007

Naftali Busakhala is a Senior Lecturer and specialist Physician at Moi University and Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital. He is the departmental postgraduate coordinator at the department of pharmacology and toxicology at Moi University. He is the co-chairman of the Ampath Oncology working group. Dr Busakhala is the principal investigator of the AIDS Malignancy Consortium, Moi University Site. He is also the principal investigator of the Lung and Breast Cancer Projects.

He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Prevention and Research, Lyon France. He has published widely in peer reviewed journals.

Dr Busakhala is the Chairperson of the Kenya Society of Haematology and Oncology (KESHO).

He holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Moi University and a Masters of Medicine in Internal Medicine from University of Nairobi. He also received post graduate training in Pharmacology from Tianjin University China and Makerere University Uganda. He was a Fogarty trainee in Haematology and Oncology at Brown University, USA.

Ms. Roselyne Okumu is the current Chair of the Oncology Nurses Chapter –Kenya, and a member of, NNAK , AORTIC and Africa Oncology Nurses Network.

Roselyne is an assistant chief nurse at KNH CTC, she has excelled in provision of nursing care to different categories of patients. As an Oncology Nurse Specialist she gives nursing care while managing cancer screening & awareness services, advocacy and research.

Roselyne is involved in training, education and mentorship of students at the local university. She is a trainer of trainers of Chemosafe, a program that is geared towards provision of chemotherapy in a safe manner for the healthcare provider, the patient and the environment.

Roselyne works closely with National Cancer Control program(NCCP) and National Cancer institute (NCI) as an expert and has participated in the formulation of several Cancer strategic documents in partnership with NCI and NCCP (National Cancer Control Strategy 2017-2022, National Cancer Screening guidelines and Cancer treatment protocols. She is also involved in mapping oncology nursing training and education in Africa.

She values integrity, honesty and is passionate about cancer research, education and advocacy

Dr Verna is a senior Clinical Oncology Consultant at the National Center for Radiotherapy, Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at Korlebu Teaching Hospital, Ghana.

She has mentored many regional and international young cancer professionals throughout their training, young- and middle-level career phases.