Project summary
Since 2010, the School of Social Sciences at Nottingham Trent University (NTU) has had a formal partnership with the School of Public Health at Makerere University, Uganda. This collaboration has recently expanded to include other disciplines at both universities including nursing, microbiology, veterinary, as well as environmental and agricultural sciences. The focus of this partnership is on training, community service, research and capacity building in Uganda and UK. Makerere University is a NTU Institutional International Partner.
Countries
Uganda and UK
Key Themes of our Global Health work
- Inequalities & social justice; gender; social enterprise
- Ecological thinking
- Moving health systems up stream – health promotion comprehensive primary health care ; social model of health
- Working at the boundaries – visible /invisible; formal /informal: Challenging the power structures; valuing different forms of knowledge
- Research with impact; that makes a difference
- Partnership leadership investment
Grants and Funding
CwPAMS2 Extension
Centre of Excellence on antimicrobial stewardship in Central Uganda. Makerere University School Public Health were co-applicants to the Funding Body. Status: Project phase – 2.
International Partnership Fund
NTU Internal Fund to support existing research partnerships for mobility and knowledge production with MakSPH.
The Global Capacity Building Programme (GCBP): ''Strengthening leadership and management among local government health managers in Wakiso district, Uganda.”
Funding Body: Global Health Partnerships – GHP (formerly Tropical Health and Education Trust - THET).
NTU-MAK Partnerships and Programmes
Strengthening health systems: Community Health Workers in Uganda
The model of the partnership is centred on: Mobility, Knowledge Exchange and Social Enterprise and Impact. The partnership through this model has strengthened community health in Wakiso District, Uganda using a health systems approach. The major health systems building blocks targeted by the project at community level are:
- Health workforce (through enhancing the capacity of community health workers (CHWs) and their supervisors who are mainly nurses).
- Health information systems (through supporting the completeness and timely submission of data from CHWs).
- Access to essential medicines (through enhancing timely delivery of drugs and other commodities to CHWs).
- Health service delivery (through improving performance of CHWs in relation to quality of care, respective care, and timely referral of patients) and governance and leadership (through supporting the supervision and coordination of community health).
- Through the partnership weak health systems components in the community has been strengthened. The main outcome of the project is the continual better functioning of the community health system through improved performance of the CHWs.
Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (CwPAMS)
CwPAMS programme funds health partnerships between UK & eight African countries including Uganda
CwPAMS programme aims:
- improving antimicrobial stewardship, including surveillance
- building antimicrobial pharmacy expertise and capacity
- enhancing infection prevention and control
- improving the use of clinical microbiology and antimicrobial prescribing data to inform clinical decisions
- enhancing the detection and reporting of substandard and falsified antimicrobial medicines
- supporting community pharmacy
Our CwPAMS partnership was established in 2019
July 2024, UK
NTU in collaboration with Buckinghamshire NHS Health Care Trust and Nottingham University Hospitals, hosted a delegation of seven Ugandan colleagues as part of CwPAMS and The Global Capacity Building Programme (GCBP). The three-week visit included activities such as grant writing, conference presentations, and meetings with both institutional colleagues and future partners.
The Global Capacity Building Programme (GCBP): ''Strengthening leadership and management among local government health managers in Wakiso district, Uganda.”
- Funding Body: Global Health Partnerships – GHP (formerly Tropical Health and Education Trust - THET).
- Total Funds Received from Funder: £50,000
The Global Capacity Building Programme is supported by Global Health Partnerships – GHP (formerly Tropical Health and Education Trust - THET). This programme is implemented by the partnership between Nottingham Trent University and Makerere University School of Public Health, in collaboration with Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust and Wakiso District Local Government, with support from the Ministry of Health Uganda.
More than 50 health managers from Wakiso District in Central Uganda gained invaluable skills during a three-day workshop training on leadership and management. The training, part of a project titled "Strengthening leadership and management competencies among local government health managers in Wakiso District," aimed to improve healthcare service delivery across Uganda.
Leadership and Management Fellowship for Health Managers in Wakiso District, Uganda
Following a 3-day intense leadership and management workshop for health managers in Wakiso District held in June 2024 for the project titled: Enhancing leadership and management of local government health managers in Wakiso District, Uganda, a 6-month online fellowship for these managers was undertaken for continued mentorship. The health managers are in-charges of health centres (IVs, IIIs and IIs) in the district. The fellowship started on 18th July 2024 with an orientation session and introduction of the participants to the Zoom Meetings application, the main platform used for delivering the online engagements.
These sessions were held every second Thursday of the month from 3:00pm to 4:30pm, as proposed by the managers. The sessions were facilitated by experts from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) and tackled critical topics suggested by the health managers during the orientation session. These topics included risk management, attendance management, data and information management, and finance management. The sessions were enriched by practical case studies and examples to ensure relevance and applicability to the managers’ working environments.
The project is funded by NHS England, for the benefit of the UK and partner country health sectors.
Eastern Africa PhD Hub
The Eastern Africa (EA) PhD Hub is a strategic partnership between NTU and six Eastern Africa universities in Uganda, Malawi, and Kenya. It aims to strengthen the quality of doctoral supervision through partnership, knowledge exchange through sharing good practice across the regions, and development of a strong mentorship programme.
Pan-African Mental Health Research Network (PAMHRN)
The Pan-African Mental Health Research Network (PAMHRN) is a collaboration between NTU and universities spanning sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. The focus of the network is to advance mental health care in these regions and in diaspora UK communities.
The PAMHRN aims to work with all stakeholders, providers and communities using contextual and culturally sensitive innovative research approaches that demonstrate impact and transformation for mental health care.
Funders: NTU QR funding (Global Challenges Research Fund)
Lymphoedema in Uganda Project
Lymphoedema in Uganda project began a couple of years ago when Professor Linda Gibson invited Professor Christine Moffatt to visit Uganda and Makerere University’s School of Public Health and Nursing Department to discuss lymphoedema and its disease burden in Uganda.
Professor Moffatt heads'The International Lymphoedema Framework' (ILF), an international charity, whose mission is to develop effective Lymphoedema care throughout the world. The LIMPRINT study is an international epidemiology study with 9 countries that has defined the size and impact of the condition on health services and this work in Uganda will be the first low resource country to undertake the work.
Erasmus International Credit Mobility
- The partnership has also been involved in the ERASMUS International Credit Mobility which has led to student placements, joint PhDs, international conference attendance, and student and staff (e.g., Community Health Workers, academic and other university staff) exchanges between the two universities.
Team members
- Prof Linda Gibson - NTU-MAK Partnership Lead (UK)
- Dr David Musoke - NTU-MAK Partnership Lead (Uganda)
- Michael Obeng Brown - Research Associate, NTU
- Grace Biyinzika Lubega - NTU
Related EAC Research and Partnership Pages
Other Related Resources
Publications
2025
- 1. Arthur Bagonza, Linda Gibson, Lydia Kabiri, Chris Bezalel, Saravu Rama Bhat Narahari, Peter J. Franks, David Musoke, Christine Moffatt. Exploring barriers to accessing treatment for Lymphatic Filariasis through a socio-ecological lens in Buvuma and Napak districts, Uganda. Published: January 9, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012747
2024
- Musoke D, Lubega G, Twesigye B, Nakachwa B, Obeng Brown M, Gibson L. Enhancing the capacity of community health workers in prevention and control of epidemics and pandemics in Wakiso district, Uganda: evaluation of a pilot project. BMC Primary Care, Published: 17 July 2024, Volume 25, article number 260, (2024)
- David Musoke, Suzan Nakalawa, Michael Obeng Brown, Grace Biyinzika Lubega, Linda Gibson. Experiences of Research Coproduction in Uganda; Comment on “Research Coproduction: An Underused Pathway to Impact” International Journal of Health Policy and Management (IJHPM). 2024. 10.34172/ijhpm.8806
2023
- Musoke D, Gibson L, Lubega G, Gbadesire M, Boateng S, Twesigye B, Gheer J, Nakachwa B, Obeng Brown M, Brandish C, Winter J, Ng B Y, Russell-Hobbs K. Antimicrobial stewardship in private pharmacies in Wakiso district, Uganda: a qualitative study. Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice, 16, Article number: 147 (2023)
- Gibson, L., Ikhile, D., Nyashanu, M. and Musoke, D., 2023. Health Promotion Research in International Settings: A Shared Ownership Approach for North-South Partnerships. In: Global Handbook of Health Promotion Research, Vol. 3: Doing Health Promotion Research (pp. 263-272). Cham: Springer International Publishing
- Lubega GB, Musoke D, Nakalawa S, Brandish C, Ng BY, Niyongabo F, Kitutu FE, Gheer J, Winter J, Brown MO, Russell-Hobbs K, Mugisha L, Gibson L. Scaling-Up Interventions for Strengthening Antimicrobial Stewardship Using a One Health Approach in Wakiso District, Uganda. In: Medical Sciences Forum. 2023; 15(1):7.
2022
- Musoke, David & Nyashanu, Mathew & Bugembe, Henry & Lubega, Grace & O'Donovan, James & Halage, Ali & Gibson, Linda. (2022). Contested notions of challenges affecting Community Health Workers in low- and middle-income countries informed by the Silences Framework. Hum Resour Health 20, 4 (2022).
- Ikhile, Deborah & Omodara, Damilola & Seymour-Smith, Sarah & Musoke, David & Gibson, Linda. (2022). “Some They Need Male, Some They Need Female”: A Gendered Approach for Breast Cancer Detection in Uganda. Frontiers in Global Women's Health. 3. 10.3389/fgwh.2022.746498. 0.1186/s12960-021-00701-0.