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 Through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) CDC, the Ministry and other governmental and civic organizations support expanding HIV prevention, care, and treatment services;  expanding and improving HIV/counseling and testing services and TB/HIV integrated service delivery; and strengthening health systems. This includes building workforce capacity, strengthening epidemiology, surveillance, and health information systems, monitoring and evaluating program performance, and adapting services to changes in the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

 CDC, in partnership with the Uganda Virus Research Institute, has increased laboratory capacity for diagnosing Ebola, Marburg virus, yellow fever, influenza, and hepatitis E, and established a plague diagnostic laboratory and field study site in Arua, and strengthened biosafety and biosecurity practices in public health. The zoonotics program also focuses on improving and expanding surveillance and outbreak response capability.

Some activities include a nodding syndrome outbreak investigation in 2012 to validate cases, establish infrastructure for a trial of several antiepileptics, and to develop information on the illness; the expansion from 10 to 42 traditional healers in Arua and Zombo who can recognize and refer plague patients to the local clinic; and CDC’s development of  an inexpensive test, the Plague Rapid Test (PRT) for diagnosing plague which yields results in 15 minutes and does not require electricity or refrigeration. PRTs were delivered to Uganda before the 2012-2013 plague season began. CDC is conducting a trial on Ciprofloxacin to treat plague.

 The FETP works with the Ministry to strengthen national and local public health systems and to address the shortage of skilled epidemiologists. FETPs are two year, in-service training programs: students spend 25% of their time in the classroom and 75% of their time conducting mentored field work. CDC collaborates with the UVRI in Entebbe to improve arbovirus surveillance and field research on arboviral threats.

There are nine routine sites and three sites providing specimens periodically for sentinel surveillance for influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infection (SARI). Influenza monitoring by WHO African was carried out in nine locations by the end of 2010.

CDC’s malaria program, supported by the President’s Malaria Initiative, includes strengthening health-facility based surveillance for malaria control through sentinel sites in collaboration with the Uganda Malaria Surveillance Project, monitoring antimalarial treatments, providing technical guidance and support to the National Malaria Control Program, and supporting the ITN and indoor residual spray campaigns.

   From 2011-2015 CDC, the Ugandan National Onchocerciasis Control Programme, and the African Field Epidemiology Network is working to eliminate onchocerciasis in Africa. The prevalence of co-endemic filarial infections, which may affect the accuracy of current tests, makes specimen collection a high priority. The Northern Focus in Uganda recently started community-directed treatment, which provides an opportunity to collect specimens that are relatively ivermectin free. The African Onchocerciasis Specimen Bank will create the world’s largest collection of specimens to evaluate current diagnostic tests and new tests that are developed, and to develop a rapid, field ready test to eliminate River Blindness in Africa.

DHDSP is working with IUHPE to have health professionals across sub-Saharan Africa (and elsewhere) discuss CVD prevention policy development, monitoring, and evaluation in Africa. IUHPE is strengthening web resources and course curricula for cardiovascular health practice and research in sub-Saharan Africa.

CDC is supporting a capacity building project in Uganda to strengthen the immunizations systems in the country to attain global milestones in polio eradication and measles control; to improve detection and response to outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases; and to improve the skills of the district EPI Officers, especially to use locally analyzed data to identify under-served counties and communities and to plan and provide for them accordingly./p>

CDC is working with Uganda to improve their ability to prevent, detect and respond to infectious disease threats.  This work helps meet the U.S. commitment to assist at least 31 countries in reaching the targets outlined in the Global Health Security Agenda. CDC’s extensive global health presence and experience are critical to achieving these targets.