By Julius Mugaga Tukacungurwa/ Umoja Standard.
Kampala, Uganda: The Director Public Health in the Ministry of Health, Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze noted that as government of Uganda is struggling to identify money, ‘we should tell government that research is Part and parcel of development.’
(L-R) Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, Director Public Health – Ministry of Health Consults with Dr. Andrew Kambugu, the Sande-Mckinell Executive Director Infectious Diseases Institute, Makerere University.
“There is no single country which does not invest in research which develops and you cannot be doing research as government. So, government should encourage and put money in all research universities, settings, in even some ministries including setting up pure research agencies.” He advised.
“The government has Uganda national research organizations for agriculture, for health, for technology, we even now have a Ministry of Science and Technology and Innovation, all those that will enhance and harness the outcome of science. You know we can get patents and the innovations which can bring revenue in the country. If we promote science and we also want to promote people to make research on our traditional and locally groomed medicines and interventions, then we need invest in this more.” He added.
This he revealed to journalists on Thursday at the sidelines of the 2-day, 23rd Annual Scientific Conference, 2024 and 25th Anniversary Celebrations of the Uganda Society of Health Scientists (USHS) happening at Four Points By Sheraton hotel in Kampala.
Congratulations 💐 upon marking 25yrs of Uganda Society of Health Scientists service to Humanity.
He revealed that some of the studies presented showed that some diseases have been able to be detected in areas which are not usually easy to find. Some of the outbreaks presented were, measles, rift valley virus, anthrax yet there has been vaccines for these.
He complemented, “So we use these scientists to help us find the location of the diseases as they try to find the dynamics how the disease move from one place to others for us we use that opportunity to do the intervention to stop the spread.”
“We cannot develop measures for responding to diseases if we don’t have the facts and science. Somebody must tell us what type of disease, that’s why we need science. How do the disease respond once we treat? So scientists and researchers are part of our response as government.” He added.n
Under the theme ‘building the next generation’ Dr. Robert Kakyesubula the president of Uganda Society of Health Scientists stressed that, they aim to ensuring that Ugandan scientists become adaptive researchers and that can match international standards.
Dr. Robert Kakyesubula, the president of Uganda Society of Health Scientists address at the Annual Scientific Conference, 2024.
One of the outstanding session focused on emerging and re-emerging diseases (this deals with epidemics), however it should be known that over time, Uganda has taken a very great lead in infectious diseases.
On this Dr. Kakyesubula noted that as the society has grown, they have slowly also moved from only infections and are also dealing with non-communicable diseases, ‘we have things that are dealing with technology and we also have things that are dealing with implementation programs, implementation science.’
“So, the society is really an all-around looking from the community up to the level going to even the laboratory and doing research. So, we are covering both areas.” He stated.
Responding to no use of the research they write, he said, the society is very keen on ensuring that they translate whatever they have learnt into policy. ‘That is why we don’t work alone, we actually work in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, we work in collaboration with the universities in Uganda, but also, we train individuals not only how to do science, but also on how to develop policy briefs that can be disseminated to the rest of the public.’
He added, in the recent years, they have not been active on social media but are now strong active in that the science is disseminated to the general community as well are also trying to actively engage the young generation.
He however noted the challenge of funding citing that the funding pools are dwindling and yet as a society they also need funds to keep operating.
He lauded the government for the annual ugx30 billion, that goes to Makerere University Research and Innovation Fund though it is not enough to cater for the ever emerging developments in science, innovations and research fields.
Dr. Andrew Kambugu, the Sande-Mckinell Executive Director at Infectious Diseases Institute and former president of Uganda Society of Health Scientists stressed that there is a lot of outbreaks including the so called zoonotic infections. (These are infections that jump from animal populations to human populations.)
(R-L) Dr. Andrew Kambugu the Sande-Mckinell Executive Director Infectious Diseases Institute (IDI) chats with Dr. Daniel Kyabayinze, the Director Public Health-Ministry of Health at the sidelines of the Annual Scientific Conference, 2024.
“Uganda is in a hot spot but also thankfully Uganda has built its capacity to respond to emerging and re-emerging. It means that we have to be prepared, It means that the next big outbreak is not a matter of if but when.” He stated.
He argued that though, the government has started funding, it must continue investing more money in the response.
“As you heard today, there is what is called a national response team, which is actually not just of the Ministry of Health but coordinated by the Prime Minister’s office. It is only fitting that our government increasingly allocates resources for preparedness and potentially to respond to outbreaks.” He cited.
He highlighted that,one of the key things about this society is nurturing the next generation of scientists but he noted concerns of the number of scientists being below what is required in this country.
Congratulations 🎉 Uganda Society of Health Scientists.
Over the past 25 years Uganda Society of Health Scientists has have been able to train several scientists who have outstanding outcomes. They train researchers to conceive good researches, to take them to the level of implementation and later also to apply the results they get through influencing policy.
The society is unique in that it accepts all scientists. They have nurses, doctors, laboratory technicians and social scientists. Everyone who is a scientist is actually welcome to society.
The society started in 1999 by a series of like minded Ugandan scientists with the aim of having science that impacts the lives of ugandans and beyond.