Christian Ntizimira
Medical Officer
Department of Advocacy & Research (RPCHO)
Africa
Biography
Dr. Christian Ntizimira is the Head of Advocacy & Research department of Rwanda Palliative Care & Hospice Organisation (RPCHO) and Former Director of Kibagabaga District Hospital in Kigali (2010-2013). A Palliative Care Expert and Educator, Dr. Ntizimira pioneered integration of end of life care into health services rendered to Rwandan patients with chronic illnesses in acute care and community settings. Through his program, more than 1500 health care providers and community health workers have learned the principles of cancer & palliative care leading to a five-fold increase in prescription of morphine, an essential pain medication. Dr. Ntizimira has published on the subjects of palliative care and health systems in notable academic journals, including the Lancet, the online palliative care resource for health professionals, www.ehospice.com, and in Rwanda’s top English daily newspaper, the New Times. Dr. Ntizimira serves on the Rwandan Ministry of Health Non Communicable Diseases Synergies Group and the National Palliative Care Policy Group. He was a 2013-2015 Palliative Medicine Fellow at the McConnell Heart Health Center Homereach Hospice in Columbus, Ohio and 2014- 2015 African Pain Policy Fellow at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Pain & Policy Studies Group/World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Pain Policy in Palliative Care. Dr. Ntizimira is a Researcher collaborator at Harvard Global Equity Initiative - Lancet Commission on Global Access to Pain Control and Palliative Care (GAPPCP). He is a 2015-2017 African Cancer Leaders Institute Fellow and member of the African Organisation for Research & Training in Cancer (AORTIC). Dr. Ntizimira holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from the National University of Rwanda and received his palliative medicine training at Harvard Medical School.
Research Interest
Healthcare, Nursing,