Makerere University College of Health Sciences Wins Grand Challenges Canada Pointof Care Grant
A tool that will guide the rational placement of medical diagnostic devices is soon to be
developed for East African countries. The computer-based tool will be developed by
Makerere University researchers who have just won a Grand Challenges Canada grant of
USD 500,000 to develop the tool and pilot it in the region.
Announcing the exciting news, the Makerere University researcher on this grant, Dr.
Achilles Katamba said that the purpose of the project is not to develop devices, but gather
data that will result into the design of a GIS tool, that will guide decision making regarding
where medical diagnostic devices can be placed for optimal health outcomes for the East
Africa populations. Dr. Katamba was addressing a media briefing yesterday December 22nd
2011 at the College of Health sciences Conference Room.
This GIS-based tool is being developed in the context of limited resources for health service
delivery, increasing infectious and non-communicable disease burden and the worrying
state if human resources for health. The toll will be developed and piloted at the end of the
three years of the project. The team has already identified institutions, projects and
networks to work with, in the region.
The project will also work with scientists and engineers who develop and hatch ideas for
medical diagnostic devices, to enable them better understand the conditions in the
countries for which these medical devices are made. He gave examples of devices that are
made for Africa yet they are sensitive to dust, must plugged into electricity 24/7 and have
to be kept in air-conditioned environments. Such devices, Dr. Katamba noted, are
problematic to maintain and use over a long a time.