Palliative Care Faculty

Palliative care centres around providing comprehensive and holistic medical care to patients with chronic, sometime life-limiting illnesses. This care is provided by a team of specialized individuals including but not limited to physicians, nurses, social workers, religious figures, and psychologists.

Palliative care focuses on providing comfort for patients experiencing distressful symptoms of a serious illness or from treatment for an illness. In addition to pain and symptom management, the palliative care team also provides emotional, spiritual and psychological support to patients and their families.

Dr John Weru, MBChB, MMed

Dr John Weru is an Associate Professor in Pain & Palliative Medicine at the Aga Khan University Medical College, East Africa. He has interests in pain, symptoms management, ethical and legal aspects of health care. He is the team leader of the Palliative Care team at the institution.  

Dr Weru chairs the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi Ethics Committee and is also a member of the Aga Khan University's Institutional Scientific and Research Ethics Committee. He is the chair of the Board of the Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA). He is a peer reviewer with the Journal of Supportive Care in Cancer, BMC- Palliative Care and sub-editor of the Palliative Medicine and Hospice Care Open journal.

He has published peer reviewed articles, written multiple book chapters and journal reviewed 'Integrative cancer Therapies.' ​He is currently leading an international research study on improving pain and symptoms management for palliative care patients.

Dr Weru is also a Consultant Palliative Medicine Specialist​ at The Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi. Read more about him HERE​​