US to support Ugandan innovations

The Bill and Belinda Gates Foundation and the US government institutions have pledged support to Uganda's health, science and technology innovations.

The Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), Dr. Elioda Tumwesigye, said this while addressing journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala.

He said he recently led a delegation to the US that visited more than 20 institutions and held discussions with more than 35 senior officials and staff of U S government and non-government agencies.

Tumwesigye said Bill Gates praised the ingenuity of Ugandan scientists and young innovators, especially in areas of Information and communications technology, crop breeding and nutritional enhancement.

"He (Bill) said that when he learnt of the threat to food security posed by the banana bacterial wilt disease in Uganda, he funded the Ugandan scientists to develop the disease resistant banana variety. He pledged continued support to Uganda's researchers and innovators as well as the country's health programs," the minister said.

During his meeting with Bill, the minister said he highlighted the importance of nurturing youth talent in science, technology and innovation, as well as promoting technologies and innovations that help smallholder farmers increase their agricultural productivity, and access to markets for their produce.

While meeting Jimmy Kolker, the deputy secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, the delegation discussed opportunities for enhancing Uganda's participation in research indispensable for global health security and the fight against the potential for bio-terrorism.

The global health security agenda is a global effort to minimise misuse of potentially dangerous pathogens such as Ebola and Anthrax.

Tumwesigye said of particular interest was the need to keep stockpiles of the small pox virus to be available for future development of more effective vaccines and other measures just in case some unscrupulous persons re-engineer the small pox virus and use it as bioweapon.

"We also agreed to make a collective effort to prevent antimicrobial resistance and share information on the safety of genetically modified organisms, whether for food or medicine," he said.

He said Kolker, who served as US ambassador to Uganda from 2002 to 2005, recognised Uganda as a leader in managing epidemics, including HIV/AIDS and Ebola.

Ugandan scientists to be trained

The delegation also visited the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and met with the NIH director, Dr. Francis Collins and other officials, including Dr. Fauci of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Dr. Roger Glass, head of Forgarty Program among others.

"The meeting with Dr Collins discussed the bilateral science and research support, where more Ugandan scientists would be trained at the NIH," Tumwesigye said.

He also said the executive secretary of Uganda National Council for Science and Technology (UNCST) Dr. Peter Ndemere and Dr Collins signed a memorandum of understanding for the training of more Ugandans in biomedical research and product development.

The minister said the NIH biomedical research funding commitment to Uganda in 2016 amounts to approximately $ 41m.

He said Uganda is the second largest recipient of NIH grants, after South Africa.

They also met with the associate administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Alfonse Lenhardt and his team.

He said Lenhardt was passionate about development in East Africa and pledged USAID's support, especially in renewable/clean energy, science education, agricultural development, health and nutrition.

"Lenhardt and I made a commitment to involve each other in the process of developing a ministry of STI strategy," Tumwesigye said.

Explaining the visit's outcome so far, the minister said they were following up the opportunities identified for scientific cooperation.

"We are laying out strategies for building collaborative partnerships with the identified partners. The lessons learnt on STI development are informing the ongoing processes of designing relevant STI programmes of our ministry," he added.