Ugandan Vaccination Training Programme
• Kampala, Uganda •
• 2020 •
• In Partnership with East Africa Centre for Vaccines and Immunization •
The Issue
Little over 50% of children in Uganda have received all their routine vaccines, leading to outbreaks of preventable diseases with downstream socioeconomic consequences (e.g. absence from school, parents being unable to work). Some of the barriers to effective uptake include insufficient access points and a lack of suitably trained healthcare workers. Knowledge and awareness of health promotion and public health is a vital attribute of all medical professionals.
why should you care?
“Education is not power, but implementation of the knowledge and skills gained through education is POWER”
Dr Jim Tamuro
ECAVI & Make A Medic Scholar 2021
The Project
We sponsored 6 Ugandan final or penultimate year medical students from Makerere University and Mbarara University of Science and Technology to enrol on the annual vaccinology course at ECAVI. Here they will undergo training in vaccine delivery, health promotion and battling misinformation to improve vaccine uptake across Uganda.
The Outcome
The course was a success! All students enjoyed the experience and have gone on to act as ambassadors for improving access to vaccination through education and empowerment in their local areas. This includes joining rural district immunisation teams to strengthen services, and disseminating findings of a vaccine hesitancy and immunisation implementation study within health centres of Wakiso district.
The students have graduated and look forward to applying their training in every day practice! Two students presented their experience internationally to global health medical students at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK. One student is currently working for UNDP as a researcher.
Hear from our Partner ECAVI
“The current COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the special role vaccines play in promoting good health and in allowing economies and countries to run smoothly. That is why we are excited about this partnership with Make a Medic, and we hope it will in the coming years play a major role in educating, empowering and equipping health workers with information to help communities embrace, demand for and promote the vaccination as a reliable strategy for overcoming communicable diseases.”
Dr. Ombeva O. Malande.
MB. ChB, M. Med (Paed), FCPaed-Cert ID, MPhil (Paed ID),
Course Convenor & Director, East Africa Centre for Vaccines and Immunization (ECAVI),
Vaccinologist & Senior Consultant (Paediatric Infectious Diseases),
Lecturer Makerere/ Egerton University.
Meet Our Former Scholars!
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