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Makerere, Uganda: The Makerere University Walter Reed Project (MUWRP) Emerging Infectious Diseases’ Program (EIDP) opened a state-of-the-art laboratory at the General Military Hospital (GMH) in Bombo. The renovations were supported by U.S. Mission Uganda and by the Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System, a division of the U.S. Armed Forces' Health Surveillance Center (AFHSC).

According to Monica Millard, the Country Program Director of the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP), a program under the Walter Reed Institute of Research, “This work seeks to support surveillance of antimicrobial resistance through supporting a network of laboratories, and improving the diagnostic procedures involved in bacteriological sample collection, analysis, referral, and reporting of results for improved patient care.”

The MUWRP EIDP also hosted a team from John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, which carried out a site assessment to establish an Electronic Disease Surveillance System at the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) Military Headquarters in Bombo. The team also carried out site assessments at Nakasongola Barracks, Gulu Barracks, and the Parero Brigade in Gulu District.

The team visited various UPDF clinics and held meetings with UPDF authorities, clinicians, and surveillance and IT personnel. Through this visit, the team sought to gain a clear understanding of the current disease surveillance system or systems the UPDF uses in Uganda.