Uganda
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Public Health
July 16 - July 26, 2007

Rationale
Uganda is one of Africa’s most beautiful and verdant countries, but with few resources it has experienced many challenges since its independence from Great Britain in 1962. Although Uganda has made a remarkable recovery and become a major tourist destination, these challenges have affected both the economy and the health care system. It has endured cycles of communicable diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and Ebola. More recently, Uganda has been globally recognized as an example of best practices in interventions regarding the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This seminar focuses on key public health problems commonly faced by African countries and the interventions that are being implemented in Uganda. Background lectures and site visits on Ugandan history and society help place public health information in a local context.

Host Institution
The Makerere University Institute of Public Health (MUIPH), headed by Professor David Serwadda, an infectious disease epidemiologist, hosts the seminar. MUIPH is a leading public health institution in Uganda with four departments: Community Health and Behavioral Sciences; Health Policy, Planning and Management; Communicable Disease Control; and Epidemiology and Biostatistics. MUIPH offers a Masters of Public Health, both for distance and campus students, and offers a bachelors degree in environmental health sciences and public health nursing. MUIPH also teaches public health courses to undergraduate students at the medical school and offers training workshops in public health emergencies and policy research. Makerere University has a student population of about 40,000 and was established in 1922.

Seminar Leadership
The faculty leaders are Associate Professor John Kakitahi, Ms. Imelda Zimbe, and Mr. Lynn Atuyambe. Professor Kakitahi is a specialist in public health nutrition and has wide experience in setting up feeding centers to aid severely malnourished children. He has served as Director of the Makerere University Institute of Public Health (MUIPH) and has ongoing projects with the University of Wisconsin. Ms. Imelda Zimbe, a lecturer and researcher in community nutrition, is a co-investigator with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded project dealing with HIV/AIDS information campaigns. Mr. Lynn Atuyambe is an Assistant Lecturer at MUIPH, specializing in public health and behavioral science, with an expertise in qualitative research methodology in the reproductive health of young people and HIV/AIDS surveillance.

Academic Content
Following are the tentative lectures, site visits, and study tours for this seminar:

Lectures

• The Political Sociology of Uganda in the Colonial and Post-Colonial Era

• The Synergy between Public Health and Economic Development

• Inequities in Education and Health

• HIV/AIDS: Uganda and the Global Picture

• Epidemiological Transition: From Diseases of Pestilence and Famine to Diseases of Lifestyle

• Public Health Nutrition Issues

• Control of Communicable Diseases in Uganda (Ebola Virus and Malaria)

• Public Health Issues in Complex Emergences: A Case of Northern Uganda

• Training for Development of Human Capital and Capacity Building

• Donor Coordination and the Role of Bi- and Multilateral Funding Agencies

Site Visits/Study Tours

• Kampala City/Kasubi Tombs

• Makerere University

• Infectious Disease Institute, Faculty of Medicine at Makerere University (HIV treatment clinics)

• Ministry of Health Uganda: AIDS Control Program

• Mwana Mugimu Nutrition Center at Mulago Hospital

• Uganda Wild Life Center

• Visit the Source of River Nile and Bujagali Falls—Junja Distict

• National Museum and Theater

• Ndere Troup Cultural Performances

 

Itinerary
This 11-day program begins and ends in Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.

Seminar Fee
CIEE Member $2,750      Non-Member $2,950