Kampala, 29th September 2014:-  Makerere University College of Health Sciences in partnership with World Health Organization (WHO) and Uganda National Association of Community and Occupational Health, (UNACOH) commenced the three-day Joint Annual Scientific Health Conference under the theme “Innovations towards attaining Vision 2040 Health Goals: Where are we, how do we get there”. The conference will involve extensive discussions on health research and innovation aimed at attaining the Vision 2040 health goals.

 Prof. Nawangwe Barnabas  Dep. Vice Chancellor (VC); Finance and Administration who officially opened the conference on behalf of  the VC Makerere University, thanked WHO for its continuous partnership in organizing the annual conference.

 Prof. Barnabas said that research is key in health innovation and the betterment of people’s lives adding that it had also earned Makerere  University recognition internationally and locally . Highlighting health partnership as one of the policy reforms suggested in the Vision 2040, he said “government, partners and researchers should work together and  research and innovation will play key role in meeting the Vision 2040 Health goals,”. 

The WHO Country Representative Dr. W. Alemu delivered his opening statement noting that academia, health professionals and government should work together if the progressive health related goals of “Vision 2040” is to be realized.

Dr Alemu said that Uganda should not wait for resources from donors but should instead inject its own resources in order to build its health systems to ensure consistent and sustainable delivery of cost effective evidence based interventions that will contribute to the attainment of the health goals.  He said that lack of proper health systems in Africa was having an adverse effect on countries as they tackle health issues citing the example of the Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.  He pointed out that the inadequate health systems in those countries had made it difficult to combat the Ebola outbreak effectively and decisively. “This outbreak has also brought to the fore the world’s growing social and economic inequalities. The health systems in those countries affected were overwhelmed and were not able to cope with the pressure,” he said.

 According to a report by WHO, Ebola  has sickened 5,843 people and caused 2,803 deaths. 337 health workers have also been sickened and 181 have died which indicates that 8% of the reported Ebola cases are health workers. It was noted that this all happens partly because of the poor investment in health system strengthening over many years.  

Dr. Alemu said that three out of the  eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) directly refer to health conditions and noted that significant progress was made though the achievement may vary from country to country. He however pointed out that many developing nations may not be able to achieve some of the MDGs and therefore should continue to finish the unfinished business applying appropriate innovation to overcome existing challenges.  

The three-day conference will attempt to suggest solutions to some of the  health challenges in Africa. Also on the agenda is health research and innovation for health problems in Uganda and Africa. The highlight of the conference is the annual Dr. Mathew Lukwiya Memorial lecture to commemorate those who lost their lives to Ebola as patients and health workers.

The conference has brought together members of the academia, medical professionals, public health specialists and journalists.

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1. WHO Country Representative Dr. W. Alemu delivering opening remarks
2. Left to Right Prof William Bazeyo Prof. Barnabus Nawangwe Prof Nelson K Sewankambo Dr Wondimagegnehu Alemu and Dr Peter Eriki