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Research in action in Uganda

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GHTC

Last week GHTC led a learning trip with US Congressional staff to Uganda to see first hand the impact of US government funding for global health R&D. Check out our favorite moments from the week.

August 29, 2019 by Emily Conron

From August 17–24, GHTC—in partnership with our member the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI)—hosted six US Congressional staff on a learning trip to Uganda. The staff represent Senate offices serving on key committees of jurisdiction over global health research and development (R&D) policy and funding. 

Uganda is a hub for cutting-edge scientific research and is a critical partner of the United States on shared global health research objectives. Long-standing partnerships between universities in the United States and Uganda have produced lifesaving global health tools and trained a new generation of researchers and clinicians, building the capacity of Uganda and neighboring countries in the region to discover solutions to mitigate their most pressing health challenges. Clinical research sites in Uganda have hosted trials that have resulted in new drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for disease threats that affect populations in both countries, such as HIV and AIDS, and informed global treatment and prevention guidelines. Continued scientific partnership, nourished by US investments through the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), US Agency for International Development (USAID), Department of Defense, and other agencies, is critical to advance progress against long-standing health threats and prepare for the unknown pathogens of the future.

Check out a tweet-by-tweet recap of the week:

Day 1: The US-Uganda Research Partnership


Day 2: Global Health R&D in Action


Day 3: African-led Science Driving Innovation


Day 4: Community Partnerships Driving Research Progress


Day 5: A Birds’ Eye View of the Impact of Global Health R&D


The learning trip was an incredible experience that we hope will be a resource for our Congressional staff guests as they consider the US government’s role in improving global health, in particular through investments in R&D for new tools like drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for use in low-resource settings. 

About the author

Emily ConronGHTC

Emily is a senior US policy and advocacy officer with GHTC managing congressional outreach, policy development, and legislative analysis to support the US advocacy work of the coalition.

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