US-Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director’s and Global Health Director’s visit to National Institute of Public Health, July 2022

Author: Zainah Kabami, Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program, Field Epidemiology Fellow Cohort 2022, Email: zkabami@uniph.go.ug, Tel: +256-758-630580

During July 27th-30th, the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky, visited Uganda to examine U.S. and Uganda collaborations to protect both countries’ populations from epidemics.

This visit demonstrated the continued importance of U.S-Ugandan partnership in advancing global health security. Dr. Walensky visited peers from the government of Uganda and partners working on HIV service delivery, public health workforce development, public health emergency response, and global health security, among other things.

She further interacted with some of the accomplished women who were advancing the fields of medicine and public health and serving as role models for young girls and women on the value of STEM education.

She also went to the Mpondwe border, where World Health Organization (WHO), US-CDC, District, and National public health officials worked together technically to identify spillover cases of the Ebola virus that occurred in 2019 and successfully stop community spread in Uganda.