Message From the Programme Director

Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) with support from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been implementing a leadership and management capacity building program for HIV/AIDS since 2002. The program, known as MakSPH-CDC HIV/AIDS Fellowship Program, aims at enhancing program leadership and management capacity in Uganda through training individuals (Fellows). Until 2010, our program focus has been solely on HIV/AIDS. However, in a bid to respond to growing health challenges, our areas of focus now include HIV/AIDS, TB, Reproductive Health, Maternal and Child Health, Malaria and other health-related programs. The program offers long-term and medium-term Fellowships, offsite short courses and technical placements.

Over the past eight years, we have been able to train 147 Fellows (54 long-term and 93 medium-term Fellows) and supported 120 institutions in rural and urban areas of Uganda. We have also been able to train over 2000 individuals through off-site short courses and technical placements in different parts of the country. Nineteen long-term and 25 medium-term Fellows are currently enrolled.

MakSPH-CDC Fellowship Program has made significant strides over the past eight years, and continues to be a major player in the field of program leadership and management capacity building in Uganda. Many of the Fellows who have graduated from the program have taken on senior positions in national and international agencies, including working as Executive Directors, Technical Advisors, and Monitoring and Evaluation Specialists, among others. Up to 90% of the graduates work in Uganda.

The program’s strengths lie in its use of a hands-on training approach coupled with a high level of mentorship and stakeholder involvement to build Fellows’ competencies both professionally and academically. Our all-round and open approach of working in close collaboration with other organizations ensures that all activities implemented by Fellows are consistent with national and organizational priorities.

I must stress that institutional capacity building is pivotal to health systems management in Uganda. New challenges are cropping up and the swiftness with which we need to handle them requires new skills, knowledge, and competencies which this program provides. The program welcomes your support to make it thrive and be able to handle critical challenges that continue to hamper effective health services delivery in our country and beyond.
Finally, I wish to thank our development partners, CDC in particular; the Fellows, host institutions, well wishers and MakSPH staff for their support.

I expect that this website will provide you with the information you need. Please don’t hesitate to contact us for any additional information. We shall be grateful to receive your feedback on our website, program activities, and any other areas of our work.

Prof David Serwadda
Program Director