Our History, Vision and Mission

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Background

Child Health and Development Centre is a multi-disciplinary institution whose role is to promote a holistic response to children and women's health needs through multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral research, teaching, training, and strengthening partnerships between Makerere University, government, and communities. Our underlying philosophy is that health needs of children and women go beyond biomedicine, to include complexities relating to families, communities, institutions of care and public policies. Established in 1989 Child Health and Development Centre (CHDC) is a research and training Centre in the School of Medicine, Makerere University College of Health Sciences. Headed by the Director, CHDC has eight core academic staff drawn from different disciplines and 45 administrative/technical staff employed on different projects. The Centre also has associate staff representing different disciplines seconded from collaborating university departments, to specific projects. Its multi-disciplinary staff has a broad range of expertise that includes: Medical anthropology and sociology, child health and development, adolescent sexual and reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, health services research, school-based interventions, and disability studies. The staff provide training in medical anthropology, qualitative research, community diagnosis, design of community health programs and projects, implementation of community health programs, and monitoring and evaluation of community-based strategies; participatory research, formative research, development of advocacy and communication strategies, and IEC materials.

Our Vision

To be a Centre of Excellence for multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral research and training for the sustainable wellbeing of children and women.

Our Mission

To promote the well-being of children and women in Uganda through multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral research, teaching, training, and strengthening of partnerships between the University, communities, and government.

Activities

Child Health and Development Centre conducts multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral experiential research training; is involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching within the College of Health Sciences and the University as a whole; conducts operational research in partnership with mid and operational level managers in government and development partners; and collaborates with communities and government to develop and evaluate community-based strategies for health improvement.

Target Audience

CHDC activities and programs primarily target University students and staff. The Centre also targets health providers and practitioners such as medical and clinical officers, nurses and paramedical staff, and health services managers. Others include social workers, community workers, health educators, health-related NGO workers, and the like.

The rationale is to give these cadres of people an opportunity to gain sound knowledge as well as achieve high level of competence in matters related to population health using a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary approach. CHDC research and training will also offer them the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills needed for designing and managing health, development and research projects within the communities. It also offers training in prevention techniques and in other issues like population health.

Area of Strength

CHDC staff come from a wide array of research and academic backgrounds, which provides an opportunity to conduct research and training. These include:

  • Child Health Research
  • Gender
  • Disability
  • HIV/AIDS
  • Health Systems and Health Services Research
  • Sexual and Reproductive Health
  • Malaria
  • Community Participation in Health
  • Quality of Health Care and Safety
  • Nutrition and Micronutrients
  • Medicines
  • Decentralization
  • Poverty and Health
  • Newborn Health
  • School Health
  • Public Health