Health
Four Innovators Win 2020 Social Innovation in Health Awards
Four innovations identified by external reviewers as the best, received awards from the Makerere University School of Public Health Social Innovation in Health Initiative –SIHI Uganda project.
This was during the 3rd national stakeholders workshop held on March 17, 2021 at Golf Course Hotel, Kampala to reward and recognize the best community-based health solutions in Uganda.
The workshop aimed at strengthening collaboration with stakeholders in advancement of social innovation in health. It also gave an opportunity for the innovators to showcase their social innovations that have enabled the delivery of more inclusive, effective and affordable health services to Ugandans. The even brought together officials from Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministry of Health, Makerere University and members of the public.
The winners of the 2020 social innovations for solutions that improved access and quality of health care were; Ishaka Health Plan Project (Community based health insurance scheme) that facilitates access to quality and affordable healthcare services to communities in Bushenyi district, My Pregnancy Handbook project, a user-friendly portable short handbook prepared to deliver authentic health information concerning pregnancy to pregnant mothers, midwives, and the general population, SEEK-GSP project, a project aimed at narrowing the treatment gap for depression among people living with HIV using group support psychotherapy delivered by community health workers and the Community Health Insurance, an initiative by the Uganda Protestant Medical Bureau.
Also awarded were students from the School of Public Health for their innovations. They are; Mr. Filimin Niyongabo who showcased the Student’s HIV/AIDs Awareness campaign (SHIVA), and Mathias Amperiize spearheading Youth-led cancer and diabetes awareness campaign (YCADAC).
Speaking at the ceremony, Dr. Rhoda Wanyenze, Professor, and Dean MakSPH hailed the innovators for creativity. She said she was very passionate about social innovations in health and hopped that the Uganda hub of SIHI global can be grown further to enable communities to come with their solutions.
“I also look for the opportunity where we can transform the way we teach. We need to transform the way we teach to enable students to be problem solvers. Are we teaching people to solve problems? Are we teaching them to only see problems or to solve problems? We need to actually empower our students to be able to feel that they have the capacity to innovate and solve problems,” Professor Rhoda Wanyenze.
Professor Damalie Nakanjako, the Principal College of Health Sciences represented the Vice-Chancellor Professor Barnabas Nawangwe. She hailed the Uganda hub of SIHI global led by Dr. Phyllis Awor for the good network of identifying and supporting nurture innovations.
“As Makerere University, we want to appreciate Government of Uganda for the big trust that you have put in research and innovation. I think this is an area where we have received support through the Research and Innovations Fund. It has made a difference to impact society. It is our mandate to translate research into policy to benefit the citizens of Uganda. This is very key towards our attainment of Sustainable Development Goals. With support from government, Makerere University has renewed her mandate on intellectual property and working with industry to promote innovators. Our Intellectual Property Office is ready to invest and support innovators to develop further,” said Professor Nakanjako.
Dr. Olaro Charles, Director Clinical Services at Ministry of Health said the ministry looks forward to more partnerships and that they we are ready to support such innovations that help improve the quality of health of Ugandans.
Dr. Maxwell Otim Onapa, the Director of Science, Research and Innovation at Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation said his Ministry certainly is very positioned to work with SIHI Uganda hub because ideally, these social innovations in health bring a whole different perspective hence a need to integrate such innovations.
“Sometimes we focus too much on issues related to the business you look at the big picture and yet there very low hanging fruits that require low input but with immense impact. I believe this is one of them,” said Dr. Maxwell Otim.
He adds that his ministry is already working with Ministry of Health to establish an innovation cluster program, particularly in health. He advances that the Health Information Innovation and Research program under the health ministry is a very strategic one that can enable to support these initiatives.
“We also pick interest in areas where there is a lot of intellectual input. And we shall support in the area of intellectual property,” Dr. Otim.
During the workshop, the SIHI Uganda Hub Director, Dr. Phyllis Awor briefed the participants on SIHI and SIHI Uganda hub activities. She emphasized the need for supporting social innovations to ensure equitable and affordable health services. Since its establishment in 2017, more than 12 innovations have been recognized.
Dr. Awor further noted that the identified innovations could be translated into policy and scaled to improve the well-being of Ugandans.
SIHI Uganda is part of a global collaboration of partners passionate about advancing community-based health solutions. The SIHI network is supported by TDR, the special programme for research and training in tropical disease, co-sponsored by UNDP, UNICEF, the World Bank and WHO. TDR receives core funding from SIDA, the Swedish International Development Agency, used to support SIHI.
Article originally Published on MakSPH website
By Okeya John and Primrose Nabankema
The intensive one-month course, running for the first time from June 5 to July 24, 2025, is jointly offered by Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH)’s Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences (CHBS) and the Department of Journalism and Communication (DJC) at the School of Languages, Literature, and Communication (SLLC), co-designed in 2024 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation through Amref Health Africa.
It seeks to equip healthcare providers at the community level, public health and environmental health practitioners, communication specialists, health educators, community development officers, social scientists, and policy makers, among others, with strategic communication skills to improve public health messaging, strengthen community engagement, and support evidence-based interventions, ultimately empowering participants to effectively engage communities and improve population health outcomes across Uganda and the region.
Launching the course, the heads of the Department of Journalism and Communication and the Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences noted that participants who complete the short course will gain practical tools to influence behaviour change, build trust, and deliver timely, accurate, and relevant health information to the communities they serve. The first cohort attracted more than 60 applicants, with 36 reporting for the opening in-person session on June 5, 2025, at MakSPH in Mulago. Between now and July, participants will undergo a hands-on, multidisciplinary learning experience within the Certificate in Health Communication and Community Engagement program, which combines theory and practice.
Among the participants in the first cohort of the certificate course, designed as a pilot for the anticipated Master of Health Promotion and Communication to be jointly offered by the two departments at Makerere University, is Ms. Maureen Kisaakye, a medical laboratory technologist specialising in microbiology and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and currently pursuing a Master’s in Immunology and Clinical Microbiology at Makerere. She is driven by a passion to help reverse the rising tide of AMR, a growing global health threat where drugs that once worked are no longer effective. Kisaakye is particularly concerned about common infections, like urinary tract infections, becoming increasingly resistant and harder to treat.
“I enrolled in this course because I’m an advocate against antimicrobial resistance, and it came at a time when I needed to deepen my knowledge on how to implement our projects more effectively and engage with communities. The experience has broadened my understanding of AMR and its impact on society, and strengthened my passion for community-driven health initiatives and advocacy,” Kisaakye said, explaining why she enrolled for the short course.
Kisaakye’s work in antimicrobial resistance extends beyond the lab. Having earned her degree in medical laboratory science from Mbarara University of Science and Technology, she founded Impala Tech Research in 2024 to drive impact and save lives. She has led grassroots AMR campaigns that integrate antimicrobial stewardship with water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) education in underserved urban communities, including the informal settlements in Kampala. She also has since designed peer-led initiatives that empower university students as AMR Champions, building a network of informed youth advocates. Kisaakye believes the health communication course will sharpen her ability to design and deliver impactful, community-centred interventions in response to the growing threat of drug resistance.
“The department collaborates with many partners within and beyond the University, including the School of Public Health, where we are working to develop the subfield of health communication and promotion. Our goal is to train specialists in this area and build a community of practice, something we have each been doing in our own spaces. There’s a lot of work ahead, and COVID-19 showed us just how urgently we need a generation trained to do this kind of work, and to do it very well,” said Dr. Aisha Nakiwala, Head of the Department of Journalism and Communication, during the opening of the short course on June 5.
She assured participants they were in good hands and underscored the importance of the partnership between the Department of Journalism and Communication and the School of Public Health, describing it as a vital collaboration that brings together strategic communication and public health expertise. This dynamic, multidisciplinary approach, she noted, is essential to developing practical solutions that empower communities, strengthen health systems, and ultimately improve livelihoods.
The course offers a hands-on, multidisciplinary learning experience, with participants intended to explore key modules including Health Communication and Promotion, Risk Communication, Smart Advocacy, Community Mapping, Community Mobilisation and Empowerment, and Strategies for Community Engagement. The course combines theory with real-world application, and its assessment includes a field-based project and a final exam.
“You are our first cohort. We are seeing the fruits of our efforts in bringing this short course to life. It was born out of a joint initiative to develop a Master’s programme in Health Promotion and Communication,” said Dr. Christine Nalwadda, Head of the Department of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences. “We carried out extensive consultations with our different key stakeholders during the process and discovered a real need for such a course. It was the stakeholders who even named it; this course name didn’t come from us.”
For Kisaakye, by the end of the course in July, she hopes to have sharpened her skills in health promotion and strategic communication, particularly in crafting targeted messages that help individuals and communities effectively respond to threats such as antimicrobial resistance. She also aims to gain practical experience in designing, implementing, and evaluating community health initiatives that can strengthen her advocacy and drive lasting impact.
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