Uganda–UK Health Summit 2025 – How health partnerships are saving lives in local communities.

28th August 2025 | Kampala, Uganda

From diabetes care in Bushenyi to emergency response training in Kampala, Uganda and the UK are joining forces to shape global health, together.

Today, the Ministry of Health Uganda, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and Global Health Partnerships (formerly THET) are hosting a high-level Uganda–UK Health Partnership Event in Kampala to spotlight how collaborations between the two countries are transforming lives.
The event welcomes key dignitaries, including the Minister of Health, Dr Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, Uganda’s High Commissioner to the UK, HE Nimisha Madhvani, and the Vice Chancellor of Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Prof. Pauline Byakika. It aims to inspire more support for health partnerships that make a real difference by improving services, strengthening local systems and creating new opportunities for both Ugandans and UK communities.

Health partnerships are simple in idea, but powerful in impact. They bring together hospitals, universities and health workers in Uganda with their counterparts in the UK to share skills, knowledge and ideas. The goal is to find solutions that improve healthcare in both countries.
With health threats like diabetes and high blood pressure on the rise, health partnerships are helping communities respond faster, smarter and more effectively – using practical solutions that work for both countries.

In Bushenyi, for example, community health clubs are helping people living with diabetes stay healthier for longer. Local groups meet regularly to learn about managing their condition, improving their diet and keeping their symptoms under control.

Meanwhile in Kampala, Ugandan and UK health workers are teaming up to improve care for mothers and newborns. Together, they’re running emergency training sessions that help save lives in rural clinics and health centres.

At the Uganda Heart Institute and Makerere University, the Global Capacity Building (GCB) programme run by Global Health Partnerships is backing new projects to expand specialist care. Small grants are helping midwives gain advanced research skills in women’s health and supporting the launch of Uganda’s first cardiac MRI services- bringing new diagnostics closer to patients who need them most.

Ugandan professionals working in the UK health system – many of them part of nationwide diaspora leadership – are playing a key role in spearheading these projects and bringing new ideas home. These are not one-way programmes. They are equal partnerships built on trust, innovation and shared success.