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March 20, 2020
Combating Stigma to End TB: It’s Everyone’s Fight

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health challenge globally and in Uganda. In Uganda, some 89,000 people develop TB each year, with only 60,000 diagnosed. Of those diagnosed and started on treatment, only seven of ten complete treatment. A key barrier to diagnosis and treatment is stigma. In...

A health worker speaks with KI’s contacts. Credit: USAID Defeat TB
March 20, 2020
Tracking Down TB in an Urban Slum: Patient-led Contact Tracing

KI, a resident of Kisenyi, one of the largest slums in Kampala, had been out of touch with his family for several years. When he fell ill, he reached out to his sister, a health worker, who took him to Mengo Hospital, a private not-for profit hospital in Kampala, to be tested for TB.

BARMMHealth’s capacity-building efforts have prepared health workers to adapt messaging to confront the COVID-19 pandemic. Credit: BARMMHealth, URC Philippines
March 16, 2020
Supporting Response to COVID-19 While Continuing Essential Health Services

For decades URC has worked with national programs to advance efforts to combat infectious diseases including tuberculosis (TB), HIV, malaria, and other emerging and reemerging diseases. URC-led programs have strengthened health systems by developing polices, standards, guidelines, and the...

Earl Gast, President of URC
March 09, 2020
Earl Gast Named President of URC

Global development leader Earl Gast has been appointed the new President of University Research Co., LLC (URC). With 30 years of experience in government and private industry, Gast is a talented professional with proven expertise in the public and private sector leading strategic, results-driven...

Brenda Lakisa together with Dr. Miriam Ajambo, Medical officer at Gulu RRH neonatal unit during a community follow up visit to baby Precious at 4 months of age.
February 24, 2020
A Precious Beginning – Improving Care for Preterm Infants

The Ministry of Health’s Newborn Steering Committee and URC’s USAID Regional Health Integration to Enhance Services in North, Acholi Activity (RHITES-N, Acholi) partnered to establish functional neonatal care units (NCUs) for sick and premature infants in all Acholi districts. Under the...

Waiswa and his children use their tippy tap handwashing station
February 10, 2020
Better Sanitation and Hygiene – Better Health, Uganda

Waiswa, a peasant farmer, lives with his family in Kaliro district in East Central Uganda. Unlike other households in Kaliro, Waiswa’s home did not have a pit latrine, increasing his family’s risk of contracting diarrheal diseases due to poor sanitation practices.

Marni Laverentz
January 07, 2020
Promoting Government Ownership and Sustainability in Ghana: A Conversation with Marni Laverentz

Marni Laverentz, DrPH, recently completed a tour of duty as Chief of Party (COP) of URC’s USAID Systems for Health Project in Ghana which ended in December 2019. The five-year project left a significant legacy of strengthened health systems and improved delivery of health services. Marni took...

VMMC has been part of Uganda’s comprehensive HIV prevention strategy since 2010.
November 25, 2019
Military VMMC Outreach Scale-up Makes a Difference in Uganda

Military personnel are amongst the highest-risk populations for contracting HIV, due to factors such as stress, mobility, sexually active age ranges, and significant time spent away from family and loved ones. In Uganda, the overall HIV prevalence is 6.2%, with the rate within the military...

Ibrahim counsels an adolescent HIV-positive peer on treatment adherence at Bugiri Hospital in East Central Uganda.
November 25, 2019
HIV-Positive Adolescents Promote Treatment Adherence

Every Thursday, 19-year-old Ibrahim visits the adolescent HIV clinic at Bugiri Hospital in East Central Uganda. Ibrahim lives with HIV and relies on daily anti-retroviral treatment to keep him healthy. On this day, Ibrahim is not visiting the clinic as a patient. He is there to counsel fellow...

Ms. Sodonia Ayika
November 25, 2019
Bringing Antiretroviral Therapy Treatment Closer to Home

For Ms. Sodonia Ayika, managing her HIV required an entire day and a 30 kilometer walk to her nearest health center. She would get up at 6 a.m., walk 15 kilometers from her home to the Patongo Health Center IV, and arrive at the clinic by 10 a.m. The trek to the health center was necessary...

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