SUPREME

SUPREME - HIV Prevention, Care and Treatment (PCT) in military settings

Supporting Research and Evidence-based implementation through Mentorship, learning and dissemination

SUPREME Project’s objective is to systematically support the collation and documentation of DHAPP programmatic approaches, implementation experience and achievements through routine data collection, analysis and dissemination of key findings. These data will generate an evidence base to inform current and future programming approaches. The documentation will be disseminated through various fora including routine program performance reports, highlight of success stories, peer reviewed journals, scientific conferences, seminars and webinars.

The SUPREME team is supporting the systematic documentation of program learning in Phase 3 and 4, following training and capacity building for DHAPP program staff in in scientific writing, identifying areas and topics for documentation, developing abstracts and manuscript outlines and actual presentation in high profile regional and global conferences -ICASA and IAS respectively. In Phase 1 and 2 the SUPREME team provided technical support in conceptualization, data mining, writing, and dissemination of program experiences with intention to fill the glaring information gap in HIVAIDS programing within the military population.

IAS 2020: 23rd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2020), 6-10 July 2020

ICASA 2019: 20th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa, 2-7 Dec 2019

Others

The Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) implemented by the University Research Co., LLC (URC) with funding from PEPFAR through the US Department of Defense (DoD) officially commenced in October 2018. The URC-DHAPP provides technical assistance to the Uganda People’s Defense Forces (UPDF) through its HIV/AIDS Directorate and has, since October 2018, has been supporting 28 ART accredited military facilities to aggressively scale up the 90-90-90 targets of HIV epidemic control. The DHAPP approach promotes learning and adaptation of implementation experience of HIV programming within Ugandan military settings.

SUPREME Project’s objective is to systematically support the collation and documentation of DHAPP programmatic approaches, implementation experience and achievements through routine data collection, analysis and dissemination of key findings. These data will generate an evidence base to inform current and future programming approaches. The documentation will be disseminated through various fora including routine program performance reports, highlight of success stories, peer reviewed journals, scientific conferences, seminars and webinars.

The SUPREME team is supporting the systematic documentation of program learning in Phase 3 and 4, following training and capacity building for DHAPP program staff in in scientific writing, identifying areas and topics for documentation, developing abstracts and manuscript outlines and actual presentation in high profile regional and global conferences -ICASA and IAS respectively. In Phase 1 and 2 the SUPREME team provided technical support in conceptualization, data mining, writing, and dissemination of program experiences with intention to fill the glaring information gap in HIVAIDS programing within the military population.

A large number of dissemination and learning outputs are currently being developed – supported by the SUPREME team, led by program staff from both URC-DHAPP and UPDF. The products cover a wide range of thematic areas in HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment (PCT) including: Using the “granular” approach to improve linkage to care; Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) experiences – including adverse events and military/local adaptation of the ‘MOVE’ model; TB, Early Infant Diagnosis (EID), orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), Improving Isoniazid Preventive Therapy (IPT) uptake, Viral Load Suppression (VLS), strengthening laboratory services (SLMTA), compliance to infection control, keeping and using quality data, dynamics of stock management,  Loss to Follow up (LTFU), Differentiated care to reaching the last troop (DSDM), Using the low dose high frequency (LDHF) approach to healthworker capacity building at the frontline and showcasing novel approaches like how the military has leveraged its “Command Driven” military approach to  improve HIV service delivery  and related outcomes.

Timelines: 2019 – 2021

Geographical Coverage: 28 ART accredited military health facilities in Uganda.

About the Team

Established in 2017, CHASE-i seeks to improve health and socioeconomic outcomes through multidisciplinary research, innovation, implementation and partnership. 

Address

  • P.O. Box 7062
    Kampala, Uganda
  • +256 (0) 772 073 703
    +256 (0) 708 778 557
  • inquiries@chasei.org

Useful Links

Focus Areas

CHASE-i © 2022

CHASE-i is an affiliate of Makerere University.

Innovate. Implement. Improve.

Dr Gloria Seruwagi

MPH | Taught Component - DrPH | PhD

Founder

Dr Gloria Seruwagi’s wide-ranging background includes extensive experience as a public health specialist, behavioural scientist, policy advisor, researcher and educator specialising in SRMNCAH+N, health systems, policy and issues affecting disadvantaged, marginalised or vulnerable populations. She has supported and led multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in providing robust solutions to complex multisectoral challenges.

A versatile health systems and policy specialist, some of Gloria’s work spans implementation research and realist evaluation; reforming the healthcare regulatory system; improvement science (Quality Improvement/QI and in particular Quality of Care/QoC interventions in sexual, reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health and nutrition (SRMNCAH+N); Community Engagement and Involvement (CEI) where she is a very strong advocate of community participation in health and wellbeing. She has undertaken extensive work addressing NCDs, forced migration, cross-border and multi-country dynamics in humanitarian and development contexts; development challenges in urban contexts; and supported several global initiatives on decolonisation of research, programming and enhancing equity between the Global North and South.

As the Centre’s founder, Gloria supports a multidisciplinary team from different fields including health, climate science, social science, education, engineering, law, economics, education, ICT and development as they join forces in partnership to provide impactful, sustainable solutions to the problems facing our nation, continent and world today. A strong believer in the power of partnership to bring about meaningful and lasting change, Gloria is particularly interested in bridging the longstanding gap between research, policy and practice (or the “the three worlds” as they are commonly known). She has championed a solid and impactful model at CHASE-i where its experts are drawn from different institutions and sectors within and outside of academia, stretching out to secure partnerships in research, policy and practice – within Uganda, the East African Community, Great Lakes Region and abroad.


Prof. Stephen Lawoko (1969-2021)

BSc | MSc. Stat. | PhD

Lead Biostatistician & Quantitative Methodologist

Professor Stephen Lawoko (RIP) was CHASE-i’s inhouse biostatistician and quantitative methodologist until the end of 2021 when he passed on. Between 2008 – 2018 he was Associate Professor at Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. At the time of his death, Prof. Lawoko was employed with Gulu University, in the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Public Health.  Professor Lawoko had a PhD in Public Health from Karolinska Institute, Sweden and a Masters in Science in Statistics from Linkoping University in Sweden. He had been active in academia and research for more than 20 years, with a publication record of over 70 research articles in high impact peer-reviewed journals. Prof. Lawoko led several research and implementation projects, received several competitive research grants, and contributed to institutional building through curricula development and supervision of several PhD, Masters and Bachelors theses. He was an established global researcher and community enthusiast. 

Under CHASE-I, Prof. Lawoko was Co-PI on the REFLECT and ALERTs study which focused on the experiences and impact of COVID-19 among refugees and communities in urban slums respectively. He also co-led the SUPREME assignment (2019-2021) seeking to strengthen implementation science and evidence-based programing while also widely disseminating innovation and learning from Uganda’s HIV/AIDS Prevention, Care and Treatment (PCT) in military settings.

May he rest in peace. See our tribute to Prof. Lawoko

Kinuthia Francis Kariuki

MPH

Research Associate

Francis is a Public Health Specialist with extensive experience in research, reproductive health, primary health care, Monitoring and evaluation, community health services and clinical service delivery. He is a strategic and analytical thinker who promotes constructive and active participation of all parties combining both theoretical knowledge and evidence based practical experiences.

As a member of CHASE-I family, Francis is currently the coordinator of manuscript publication for Department of Defense HIV/AIDs Prevention Program (DHAPP) project. In this position, he is primarily responsible for coordinating and tracking manuscript writing through out to publication, and also coordinating data mining, sharing, and data tool development on different studies.

Prior to joining CHASE-I, and as a co-founder of Uganda Health Promotion Initiative (UHPI) Francis was responsible for coordinating activities with cooperate companies, government agencies, training, Information Education Communication (IEC) development, and supervision. During this period, he played a major role in competitively writing a proposal and winning sponsorship from Insurance Company of East Africa to conduct an awareness campaign on prostate cancer among men in Uganda in collaboration with Ministry of Health and Uganda Cancer Institute.

In addition, Francis was able to partner with National Drug Authority (NDA)-Uganda and developed IEC materials on drug and substance abuse for youths and students as part of the awareness campaign to empower the youths on the effects of drugs in their lives. As a Clinical Officer at International Medical Center, he was responsible in provision of standard of care services for all medical conditions, and planning, organizing outreach activities on health promotion and education -he was also in charge of continuous medical education (CME) and coordinator of continuous professional development (CPD) activities. In 2009, Francis was primary involved in initiation of Immunization services and ART clinic at St Mary’s Medical services and Green Medical center.

Francis is passionate about sexual and reproductive health issues. He is concerned about the level of engagement and commitment of men on this critical matter. This can further be confirmed by research project he and Dr Gloria undertook to document determinants of male partner involvement in antenatal care in Uganda and recommend approaches to enhance their level of involvement.

Previous Studies

Francis was in charge of quantitative data collection team on;

  • Knowledge, Adherence and the lived experiences of refugees in COVID-19: A comparative assessment of Urban and rural refugee settings in Uganda” (September 2020)
  • Makerere University: End line Evaluation on Reproductive Maternal Neonatal Child Adolescence Health (RMNCAH) Investment Case Sharpened plan. (August 2020)
  • Process Evaluation on Pre-term Birth Initiative (PTBi) In Busoga region Eastern Uganda (April 2018)
  • A situation Analysis of Maternal and Newborn Health in Karamoja Region (2017); funded by UNICEF crises.

Catherine Nakidde Nzesei

BSc. | MA | MPH | PhD ongoing

Associate Director of Programmes

Catherine Nakidde Nzesei is the Centre’s Associate Director of Programmes – providing leadership and support to the Programmes Unit across all projects, teams and associates.

Catherine is a public health specialist with graduate training in public health, health promotion and international development. A recipient of the 2022 Commonwealth Scholarship, she embarked on a PhD in public pealth at UCL which is driven by her passion for health system strengthening – and building on previous work around Strengthening Health Professional Regulation in Uganda and Kenya. Catherine’s PhD examines systems and processes for continuous quality improvement of healthcare professional training.

Catherine’s professional interests revolve around leveraging impact from effective systems and empowering vulnerable population categories to enable them to fulfil their potential – whether in a professional, community or personal setting. Some of her previous work has focused on understanding the experiences of refugees and slum dwellers in the COVID-19 pandemic as well as health system resilience. Since inception, Catherine has directly supported for several Centre projects including those on Reproductive Maternal Newborn Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH), refugee health and wellbeing, Quality Improvement (QI) and livelihoods.