25 years of fighting HIV/AIDS

By Billy Rwothungeyo

As HIV/AIDS swept through Uganda like a plague in the late 1980s, different stakeholders scrambled for solutions to curb the spread of the deadly disease. Among the many results of these efforts was the birth of the Joint Clinical Research Centre (JCRC), championed by President Yoweri Museveni in 1991 to confront the deadly epidemic. JCRC, a collaborative effort of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Defence and Makerere University's College of Health Sciences, has since gone on to become an integral institution in the fight against the disease. "The aim of this centre was to carry out research on HIV/AIDS and find a solution to an epidemic which at the time, way back in 1991, was killing millions of people," says Prof. Peter Mugyenyi, the executive director of JCRC.

Successes of JCRC

At the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1991, the prevalence rate stood at 15%. Today, this figure stands at 7.3%, thanks in part to efforts such as the ground-breaking research conducted at the JCRC. In the period, Uganda has become an international role model in the fight against HIV/AIDS. As you walk into Mugyenyi's office at the JCRC headquarters in Lubowa, you cannot help, but notice the beautiful pictures of the professor with former US president George W. Bush, who himself was a champion in the fight against HIV/ AIDS in Uganda. As JCRC celebrates 25 years of service, Mugyenyi reflects on the success stories it has registered in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Uganda. "Since 1991, we have carried out research on new drugs for treatment of HIV/AIDS; we even carried out research on preparations that we claimed to be treatment for the disease. More recently, we have carried out studies on the latest treatment for HIV/AIDS using antiretroviral therapy, especially the most recent ones," he reasons. Over the past years, various institutions such as the World Health Organisation, US National Institute of Health, University of California San Francisco, and John Hopkins University have partnered with the centre to further research. CLICK HERE FOR MORE

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