CANSA Welcomes Zodwa Sithole Head of Advocacy

The Cancer Association of South Africa (CANSA) is proud to have Zodwa Sithole on board as our Head of Advocacy as of June 2020. Zodwa has a wealth of experience which she brings to this important role within the organisation.

Zodwa has worked in the health sector in various disciplines including general nursing, midwifery, community health and palliative care. She gained valuable experience in various private, government and community institutions and has worked in environments with limited resources, illiteracy, abject poverty and general deprivation, hence covering a diverse content of first and third world care.

Zodwa Sithole

She is formally trained in general nursing, Midwifery; Primary Health Care; Nursing Administration and Education; Community Health Care and Palliative Care. She holds a B. Cur degree and a master’s degree in Nursing.

Zodwa has participated in numerous national and international conferences. She has managed to advocate for the integration of Palliative Care in the caring of inmates living with life threatening illnesses in the South African prisons; advocated for Palliative Care with Traditional Healers resulting in the development of a Palliative Care Curriculum for Traditional Healers.

She coordinated the development of Alliance for Access to Palliative Care – a group of individuals who are not working for Palliative Care but assist in advocating for Palliative Care. She has acted as liaison with the Department of Health in the development of National Palliative Care Policy for South Africa, which has been just approved by the National Health Council and serves as member of the Ministerial Palliative Care Steering Committee. She is the Chair of the Palliative Care Drug Availability Task Team.

Zodwa conducted Advocacy workshops in all 9 provinces of South Africa to support Hospice Palliative Care Association staff members and member hospices to advocate for palliative care in their communities. Furthermore Zodwa served as a board member of the African Palliative Care Association and Highway Hospice and is currently serving as the Board member of The International Children’s Palliative Care Network.