The unsung heroine who takes away pain

Not many Kenyans have heard of her and not even some of the 7,000 medical practitioners in the country are aware that she is the country’s pioneer of palliative care on a full-time basis.

Dr Zipporah Vunoro Ali will this week coordinate a unique side event in New York during a UN high level summit on non-communicable diseases.

Kenya will be the only nation holding such a side event at the meeting in an effort to update participants on gains it has made in the field of palliative care.

While a majority of her colleagues ventured into private practice soon after graduating or working for a few years in the public sector, Dr Ali opted to go the philanthropic way.

In 1994, after working for a few years at the Kenyatta National Hospital, she became a volunteer at the Nairobi Hospice where she helped cancer patients to make a smooth and painless transition to their maker in their last days on earth.

Two years later, Dr Ali became a full time employee at the Nairobi Hospice.

Chance to make a killing

Hers has been a journey of endurance and perseverance and she recalls how colleagues would refer to her as “Dr Death” because of her preference to work with terminally ill patients.

“I had opportunities and the chance to make a killing like my colleagues  but I kept asking myself: Is this why I studied medicine? Will this guarantee me happiness as a doctor? What difference do I want to make to my fellow Kenyans?”  she asks.

Her huge contribution  to palliative care has revolutionised  the way patients suffering from non-communicable diseases such as cancer are handled by medics and paramedics in public and private hospitals in Kenya today.

Dr Zippy, as she is fondly known by close colleagues, is one of the unsung heroes in the field of medicine who has quietly but aggressively spearheaded a campaign to develop a national palliative care policy.

Her struggle has not been in vain and the government, through the National Cancer Control Strategy 2011-2016 implementation framework, has recognised her efforts and committed itself to enhancing pain relief and palliative care.

“People with diseases such as cancer are sent home to die. Nobody seems to care how they die because there are no systems in place for their care. It is therefore important for the ministries of Public Health and Sanitation and Medical Services  to honour the strategy and implement it to improve palliative  care in Kenya,” says Dr Ali.

In a recent interview at her offices in Nairobi, Dr Ali, who is the Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA) national coordinator, said the budget for the care of patients dying from non-communicable diseases must be increased.

“We have put lots of money into HIV/Aids and forgotten non-communicable ailments like heart disease, diabetes, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases which are sending millions of Kenyans to an early grave,” said Dr Ali, a mother of three teenage boys.