October 2023

On Thursday 30th June 2022, a dissemination workshop was held at hotel Africana bringing together a wide range of stakeholders including officials from Ministry of Health, Ministry of Water and Environment, Parliament of Uganda, District local governments, PNFP health care facilities administrators, civil society organizations, media and private sector among others. The workshop included presentation of WASH assessment findings and recommendations for the improvement of WASH in PNFPs. The private not for profit health care facilities play a significant role in health care service provision in Uganda.  They are primarily run by faith based organizations that is the catholic, protestant and Muslim medical bureaus. Engineers without borders – Uganda country office  partnered with PACE Uganda, Uganda Catholic medical bureau and Uganda protestant medical bureau to conduct a WASH assessment aimed at  identifying  and analyzing  the current status of WASH in the health facilities and design appropriate WASH interventions. During  the dissemination workshop, it was  noted that   a multi sectoral approach is critical to  achieving a  comprehensive investment in WASH across  health care facilities. Also,  capacity building in social behavior change and  maintenance of available WASH facilities was emphasized. The guest of honor State minister for Health in charge of general duties Hon.  Bangirana Kawooya Anifa  was represented by Dr. Daniel J. Kyabayinze  Director Public Health who invited the PACE and EWB to  widely disseminate the WASH findings and influence policy and WASH funding. In his closing remarks, Mr. Joseph Epitu – Assistant Commissioner Sector Capacity Development in Ministry of Water and environment called upon the line ministries and private sector to work together towards improvement of WASH in health care facilities. He also encouraged private not for profit health facilities to keep a close relationship with the government to receive support. Watch the entire proceedings of this workshop on youtube https://youtu.be/orRJcmwFG_g

Between  24th  to 28th October 2022, PACE Uganda held graduation ceremonies for 1,396 adolescent Girls and Young women (AGYW) from Mbale,  Kitgum and Dokolo districts in Uganda. The functions were officiated by the Resident District Commissioners of each of the 3 districts and were attended by dignitaries from the Ministry of Health, Uganda AIDS Commission, TASO, District Local Government, Training institutions, the Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism, parents/caregivers and partners of the graduands. The AGYWs benefitted from the Global Fund New Funding Model 2 and 3 grants to PACE through The AIDS Support Organization (TASO). The AGYWs received certificates in hair dressing, Tailoring, Knitting, Building, Welding, Bakery, Catering, Shoe making. A second life given to young girls and women who dropped out of school due to life challenges including early pregnancies, poverty and child neglect.  As an organization, the young people are at the fore front in all our HIV/TB, maternal health, Malaria, and Water Sanitation programs as they make up over 75% of Uganda’s population. Through youth/young people education, engagement, innovation and entrepreneurial solutions, PACE provides a platform for young people across Uganda to continue the momentum to address the structural drivers of HIV including poverty and Gender Based Violence. As guided by the National HIV strategic plan, with resources from the Global Fund, an age-appropriate comprehensive HIV prevention package was provided to the AGYW. The package included SBCC/SRHR messages and a vocational program comprising market oriented and financial literacy skills. The program has materialized with each of graduating AGYW receiving a startup kit (Sustainability kit) to start a new life.  A program that PACE has implemented for the last 4 years has registered significant success with girls and women being employed, starting up their own businesses, joining savings schemes, are independently supporting their families, practicing safer healthy behavior, and walking the talk by sharing this information with their peers and partners. Through their mentors and peers, we are encouraging them to remain safe and for those found HIV positive, are being followed up to live positively. We will continue to provide SBCC HIV prevention packages to 11,616 AGYWs and equip 4,692 of them with economic skills. Working with several stakeholders, we are committed to ending the HIV epidemic in Uganda. We are grateful to the partners across the country that have enabled us to deliver a comprehensive HIV/TB/SRH/Malaria package to our AGYW and other beneficiaries.  Our appreciation also goes to the District Local governments, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social development, for creating an enabling environment for us to ensure quality services to the vulnerable young girls and women. Press release: https://www.newvision.co.ug/category/education/youth-skilling-over-1000-adolescent-school-dr-146333

Between 30th to 3rd November 2022, PACE was physically represented at the 2022 American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) annual meeting. This follows the 2 years of  Virtual engagements of the annual that were caused by COVID 19 restriction. PACE was represented by Kato Joel the research officer in  the 4-day Meeting in Seattle, USA.  At the event, he interacted with several Tropical medicine and Global health professionals representing academia, foundations, government, not for profit organizations, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, military and private practice and showcased our malaria work in Uganda. Unlike the 2021, conference where our research team attended the meeting virtually due to the COVID-19 restrictions, the 2022 it was different as both virtual and physical presence was accorded. We are grateful to the Ministry of Health Uganda, National Malaria Control Division (NMCD) that provided us space at their stall to exhibit our malaria research and programs.Bodybuilding meal plan for beginners pdf halotestin side effects andarine how to take, andarine bodybuilding — learnwithdan.ruOn the on the 2nd of November, Joel held a poster presentation where he disseminated findings on Community Health worker (VHT) service readiness in provision of Integrated Community Case Management (iCCM) services among children under 5 years in Uganda. Findings presented were from the 2020 iCCM study that PACE conducted across all regions in Uganda. The study was funded by the Global Fund through the Ministry of Health. It was conducted in coordination with national iCCM stakeholders including the Uganda National Malaria Control Division (NMCD), Maternal and Child Health Division and relevant district officials in the selected districts such as DHOs, iCCM District Coordinators and the In-charges of the Health Facilities. The main objective of the study was to understand the implementation of the Integrated Community Case Management intervention (iCCM), its dynamics and processes for integration and coordination. It is worth noting that the study results were used to inform the review of the iCCM implementation guidelines by the Uganda MoH National Malaria Control Division (NMCD). Summary findings of the iCCM study can be found at https://pace.org.ug/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/ICCM-Study-Findings_MoH-11-Jan-2021-2.pdf