On December 13, 2024, the Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) commemorated its 70th anniversary, celebrating remarkable contributions to public health education, research, and service. From its humble beginnings in the 1950s as the Department of Preventive Medicine, MakSPH became Sub-Saharan Africa’s first Institute of Public Health (IPH) in 1974 and has evolved into the renowned School of Public Health we know today, shaping policies and practices that have transformed health outcomes across Uganda and beyond.
The school’s legacy is intertwined with Uganda’s public health progress. It has played a defining role in addressing critical challenges such as maternal and child health, HIV, malaria, and disaster preparedness. Today, nearly 70% of Uganda’s public health workforce comprises proud MakSPH alumni, many of whom lead transformative initiatives that save lives and strengthen systems across Africa.
The impact of MakSPH extends far beyond its classrooms. As Makerere University’s research powerhouse, it attracts nearly half of the institution’s research grants. Its collaborations span over 25 African countries and global partners such as WHO, CDC, and the Rockefeller Foundation. These partnerships have driven impactful research and informed policies that continue to shape Uganda’s health systems and practices.
Starting in January 2025, MakSPH embarks on an exciting new chapter as a standalone institution, a status endorsed by the Makerere University Governing Council. This significant transformation will create opportunities to enhance its impact on public health research, training, and services. Over the past 70 years, the school has grown into a hub of excellence, marked by increasing student enrolment, ground-breaking research, and strong local and international partnerships.
During its 70th anniversary celebrations, MakSPH reaffirmed its commitment to innovation and leadership in public health. This new phase will enable the school to attract more funding, expand its infrastructure, and design programs that tackle pressing health challenges. With a renewed focus on shaping health policy and addressing emerging global health issues, MakSPH is set to drive impactful change for Uganda, Africa, and the world.
Central to the celebrations was the launch of a bold five-year Strategic Plan (2025–2030), which sets an ambitious vision for the future. With a focus on transformative education, impactful research, community engagement, strategic partnerships, and institutional growth, the plan positions MakSPH to address complex health issues such as climate change, urbanization, and emerging diseases while cementing its place as a leader in global health innovation.
MakSPH’s legacy includes strong partnerships with government, NGOs, and global institutions, driving evidence-based policies and community health solutions. Looking ahead, the school’s strategic plan positions it to harness big data, AI, and knowledge translation to shape health policies and improve outcomes in Uganda, Africa, and beyond.
The making of today’s MakSPH
The history of the School of Public Health is documented into two critical periods. First, the pre-autonomous era, which dates back to the 1950s when preventive medicine was introduced as an academic discipline within the former Faculty of Medicine, now known as Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MakCHS), which celebrated its centenary in 2024. At that time, the faculty was part of the University College of East Africa (UEA), which was dissolved in 1970, leading to the establishment of Makerere University as an independent university in Uganda.
The second phase is the post-autonomous era, which began in 2001 when the Institute of Public Health (IPH) gained autonomy from the Faculty of Medicine. This autonomy lasted until 2008, when the IPH rejoined the Faculty to form MakCHS under Makerere University’s
Prof. David Serwadda, Mr. Michael Ediau, Prof. Christopher Garimoi Orach, and Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze detail the history of MakSPH in their recent paper, titled “The Growth and Impact of Makerere University School of Public Health through the Lens of Makerere University’s Century of Existence.” The school originated in the 1950s as a Department of Preventive Medicine, established in 1957. Since then, it has experienced significant growth. The authors note that “the Department of Preventive Medicine worked closely with other departments in the medical school to fulfill its mandate of teaching, community service, and research in an integrated and complementary manner.”
The Faculty of Medicine had been founded in 1923 on top of Mulago Hill in Kampala as the first medical school in East and Central Africa. As preventive medicine became a department, Prof. George W. Gale, a South African-born medical missionary of Dutch origin, took on the task of building this foundation as the first head, serving between 1957 and 1962, singlehandedly. This formative period saw the setting up of Kasangati Health Centre as a public health training site, one of Africa’s pioneering community health centres, established by the faculty of medicine in 1959 with support from the Rockefeller Foundation. Later, the Mwana Mugimu Nutrition program was also started in Africa, supported by Save the Children Fund, which was to be enhanced by Prof. John Kahitahi in the 1990s.
The young department’s headship transitioned into the hands of Prof. John Francis Bennett, a Zambian-born renowned preventive medicine practitioner and researcher at the time, commonly referred to as the “Father of Primary Health Care in Africa,” who served from 1962 to 1967, promoting primary health care and maternal and child health.
The birth of Institute of Public Health (IPH)
As the Department continued to evolve, the idea of an Institute of Public Health (IPH) was conceived during John Bennett’s leadership, though due to the political climate, patience was required until 1975.
Then, on July 1, 1975, the Department of Preventive Medicine was elevated to the Institute of Public Health. At the time, Prof. Joseph Lutwama was the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, and Prof. Suleiman Jabir Farsey was the head of the department.
The establishment of the Institute of Public Health (IPH) was widely celebrated, receiving congratulatory messages from both local and international communities. Dr. Halfdan Theodor Mahler, who served as the Director-General of the World Health Organization from 1973 to 1988, conveyed his message to the Institute via courier. “There is one born every minute or so—talking about Uganda generally—but the birth of an Institute of Public Health success is indeed an unprecedented event in Uganda… I wish all those in any way associated with the Institute of Public Health success in their collective and individual endeavors—endeavors that will certain assist the World Health Organisation in the execution of its own candidate.”
Caption: Dr. Halfdan T. Mahler, WHO’s third Director-General-Photo Credits, WHO
Dr. Comlan Alfred Auguste Quenum, the first African to serve as the Regional Director for Africa at the World Health Organization (WHO), sent a lengthy congratulatory message that included the following:
“I am confident that the newly established Institute of Public Health in Kampala will successfully promote the teaching of public health integrated into the undergraduate curriculum of medical sciences. I hope that further steps will be taken by the new institute to train specialists in key areas such as health planning, management, and epidemiology, as well as to develop researchers and educators in the field of public health.”
Administratively, though, the institute remained under the faculty until 2001, when it eventually became fully autonomous. Prof. Farsey took over the reign in the late 1960s until 1975. One thing to note is that during this time, the department transformed into IPH and relocated to its current home in Mulago in 1971. The construction of the Mulago-based MakSPH building was started in 1967 and completed in 1971, with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and the governments of Denmark and Norway, an effort coordinated by an American expatriate, Dr. George Saxton Jr. Therefore, Prof. Farsey became the first head of the Institute, championing research in sexually transmitted diseases and promoting community health.
Around this time, in 1969, the nine-month-long Postgraduate Diploma of Public Health training program was established in the department to build the capacity of doctors who would become District Medical Officers. Two years later, it would be complemented by the introduction of the three-year Master in Medicine (with a focus on public health) in 1971 as one of the first programs at the department, intended to equip a cadre of public health specialists to support primary health care at district and central policy levels. The department was now under the leadership of Prof. Virginio Lachara Ongom.
Prof. Ongom, a public health researcher and an army captain, commonly referred to as a professor of parasitology, headed IPH between 1975 and 1979. He was the second director of the institute and the first Ugandan to hold the position. He is remembered for leading and expanding groundbreaking research on schistosomiasis, malaria, and filariasis. He was later replaced by Prof. Josephine Nambooze, who served between 1979 and 1988. Prof. Nambooze was the first medical doctor in East Africa and also the first female director of the institute, the other being the current MakSPH Dean, Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze.
During her tenure as the Director of IPH, which commenced when there was political instability in the country, Prof. Josephine Namboze triumphed over fear to lay a strong foundation for MakSPH in reproductive health, particularly family planning research and service delivery. Being one of the academicians with high qualifications and good leadership experience at the time, she became the head of the institute, replacing Prof. Captain Dr. Virginio Lachora Ongom, who had passed on.
“When he [Dr. Ongom] passed away, then I had to be the head. Because somebody had to lead the institute of public health. And I was the most senior person at that time. The leadership was tough, because by then things had started to be very difficult. Quite a number of staff members left. Those who were expatriates would not renew their contract. But others, the locals—a few that we had—just vanished,” said Prof. Josephine Namboze.
Later, the late Prof. John Tuhe Kakitahi carried the mantle from Prof. Nambooze, who had laid the foundation for the Institute in reproductive health, particularly in family planning research and service delivery. Prof. Kakitahi served as a director until 1991. He also went on to establish and head the Mwana Mugimu Nutrition Centre in Mulago Hospital and other nutritional units and sites all over Uganda, which was pivotal in combating kwashiorkor. In 1989, a year into his reign, the Rakai Health Sciences Programme was to be established by a joint team from Makerere, Columbia, and Johns Hopkins Universities, the Division of Intramural Research at the National Institutes of Allergy & Infectious Diseases, and the International Centre for Excellence Research (ICER), to combat the raging suspicious “slim disease,” which first reported in Rakai, South Western Uganda, in 1982 and later identified to be HIV with efforts from researchers from the Institute of Public Health in 1985. Prof. David Serwadda, a faculty member of IPH, was one of the earliest physicians in Uganda to recognize and describe the disease, informing the national response.
Fast forward: before serving the college and later the country as vice president, Prof. Gilbert Balibaseka Bukenya served as Director of IPH from 1991 to 1994. During this time, the famous Masters of Public Health full-time program, based on the concept of Public Health Schools Without Walls, the first community-based MPH program in Uganda and the region, was established in 1994. This is a flagship program at the school. The three-year PhD in public health by research also started this same year. Today, we run over 11 programs.
The Journey to Autonomous Status
In 2001, Makerere University granted the Institute of Public Health (IPH) autonomy from the Faculty of Medicine. Bridging the pre- and post-autonomous eras was the leadership of Prof. Fred Wabwire-Mangen, who served as Director from 1995 to 2000 and continued to steer the Institute after autonomy from 2001 to 2003. Following autonomy, IPH established its current four departments, including Epidemiology and Biostatistics, first led by Dr. Joseph Konde-Lule; Health Policy, Planning, and Management, headed by Dr. George William Pariyo; Community Health, led by Dr. Christine Zirabamuzaale; and Disease Control and Environmental Health, under Prof. David Serwadda.
Later, in 2007, IPH, by Prof. David Serwadda, Director of IPH from 2003 to 2007 and Dean of MakSPH, 2007 to 2009, rebranded to Makerere University School of Public Health (MakSPH) but kept its autonomous status only up to 2008, when it formerly rejoined to become a constituent school of Makerere University College of Health Sciences.
In 2007, IPH elevated to MakSPH: The institute of public health, then headed by Prof. David Serwadda, was elevated to a School of Public Health and later made a constituent school of the Makerere University College of Health Sciences.
Prof. Fred Wabwire-Mangen served as the Director of the Institute of Public Health from 1995 to 2000 and continued in leadership after autonomy from 2001 to 2003. Under his leadership, the Institute gained autonomy from the Faculty of Medicine in 2001, marking a critical milestone. Prof. Wabwire-Mangen also
Prof. David Musoke Serwadda led the Institute of Public Health from 2003 to 2007 and became the first Dean of MakSPH after its elevation to school status in 2007. A pioneer in HIV/AIDS research, he founded the Rakai Health Sciences Program and established the CDC Fellowship Program and Enhanced Surveillance Program. Prof. Serwadda also raised resources to further expand the school’s facilities, including the Kololo Annex teaching space.
Prof. William Bazeyo, Dean from 2009 to 2017, expanded MakSPH’s partnerships and funding base, leading to increased grants and supporting staff to undertake PhD training. He initiated the construction of the Resilient Africa Network (RAN) Building at the Kololo Annex and laid the groundwork for the school’s new home at Makerere University’s main campus.
Prof. Rhoda Wanyenze, Dean since 2017, has strengthened the school’s partnerships with key stakeholders, including WHO, UNICEF, and the World Bank. Under her leadership, MakSPH has significantly increased its research grant portfolio and initiated the construction of its permanent home at the Makerere main campus. She has also overseen major initiatives such as the COVID-19 response assessment in Africa and the PERsUADE project, ensuring the school remains a leader in public health education and research.
MakSPH has significantly contributed to public health workforce development through its undergraduate and postgraduate programs. The MPH program alone has produced over 700 graduates, many of whom serve in Uganda, across Africa, and globally. These alumni hold diverse roles, including District Health Officers, Health Program Managers, Directors, Epidemiologists, Researchers, Professors, and Public Health Specialists, actively improving health systems and outcomes.
