General
IDI Voluntary Male Circumcision Training Covers Preparation for COVID-19
The Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) Global Health Security Programme (GHSP) and Health Systems Strengthening E-AMAKA project organized a three-day Infection Prevention and Control training for 20 Voluntary Medical Male Circumcisers (VMMCs). The training took place at the IDI-McKinnell Knowledge Centre, Makerere University from 3rd to 5th March 2020.
The training was aimed at increasing institutional capacity as well as making the VMMCs better equipped to handle individual cases. VMMCs by the nature of their work interact with many people while training workers in other facilities on circumcision and are therefore able to act quickly in the event of an outbreak.
The main facilitators of the training were Dr. Mohammed Lamorde, Head of GHSP and Dr. Maureen Kesande, the Project Officer for Infection Prevention and Control in GHSP. So far similar trainings have taken place at Entebbe General Hospital and at the Naguru China-Uganda Friendship Hospital.
The training was an avenue for the teams of IDI Wakiso and Kampala to get to know each other and share best practices, learning the different causes of respiratory tract infections, outbreak management, quarantine criteria for infectious diseases, steps of sterilization and decontamination (for both reusable and disposable kits) and new ideas around personal protective equipment. The training mainly covered Ebola and Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) as infectious diseases.
“This is the first Coronavirus with an infection rate this high, threatening over a million to a billion people,” Dr. Larmode said. He also went ahead and explained that there are 7,500 cases reported in Italy, which figure kept growing, with the virus highlighted in a few countries such as South Africa and Nigeria.
Dr. Kesande advised the trainees on how to deal with outbreaks and listed different pillars to guide them. These included a coordination pillar to link all outbreaks in the country, a surveillance pillar that is supposed to give you the epidemiology and where the outbreak is going, the Case management pillar, pillar of psychosocial support, and finally the Risk communication pillar.
Article by Winifred Nyapendi, IDI Communications Office
The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe on 20th April 2026 inaugurated the Second Makerere University Health User Committee (Mak-HUC). The Committee was established by the Vice Chancellor in 2022 as part of his strategic mandate to strengthen and oversee the University Hospital services delivery.
Chaired by Dr. Allen Kabagenyi from the College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), Mak-HUC has as its members; Prof. Josaphat K. Byamugisha-Director Makerere University Health Services (MakHS) and Dr. Daniel Ronald Ruhweza-Department of Law and Jurisprudence, School of Law.
Other members include; Dr. Arthur Kwizera-Department of Anaesthesia and Critical Care, College of Health Sciences (CHS) and Makerere University Academic Staff Association (MUASA) Representative, Dr. Lillian Tukahirwa-Makerere University Administrative Staff Association (MASA) Representative, Mr. Godfrey Othieno- National Union of Educational Institutions (NUEI) Representative, and as Secretariat, Ms. Kevin M. Nabiryo-Directorate of Human Resources.
The 2nd Mak-HUC has been appointed for a period of four years effective 1st January 2026 with a mandate to: Guide, monitor and oversee delivery of health services by MakHS; Represent the interests and concerns of staff and students that use MakHS; Advise on alignment with sustainable health financing and insurance models; Strengthen systems for fraud prevention, digital transformation and access to specialized treatment, among other responsibilities.
The 1st Mak-HUC was chaired by Dr. Allen Kabagenyi and had as members; Prof. Josaphat Byamugisha, Dr. Fred Mayambala, Dr. Zahara Nampewo, Mr. Othieno Godfrey, Mr. Apunyo Paul Okiria and Ms. Ikiriza Racheal. Milestones during the first era included; Outpatient Department visits growth from 4,802 (2022) to 7,388 (Nov 2025) for staff and 14,641 (2022) to 19,069 (Nov 2025) for students.
Others milestones included; Commissioning of a fully equipped Operating Theatre, Establishment of a modern Imaging Hub, Development of a fully functional Audiology Unit, Expansion of the Temporal Bone Laboratory, Launch of the Olink Proteomics Platform and Enhancement of the Dental Unit with 32 dental chairs and experienced personnel.
Related article: https://news.mak.ac.ug/2025/12/three-years-of-impact-makerere-university-health-user-committee-presents-status-report/
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