In November 2024, Commonwealth Alumni Andrew Sentoogo Ssemata and Ronald Kiyemba delivered a workshop to promote awareness of disability inclusion in health research institutions in Uganda.
In Uganda, according to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census, 5.7% of the population live with some form of disability. Persons with disabilities often have limited access to healthcare, education, social protection, and employment.
Within niche and professional sectors such as health research institutions, the concept of equity, diversity, and inclusion, is still unfamiliar. Young people with disabilities are rarely included in research and even less so in African countries. Despite their contribution in leading and implementing research, persons with disabilities are often excluded and neglected in research studies and employment opportunities in the sector.
Andrew Sentoogo Ssemata is the Senior Research Scientist and Research fellow with the Disability Research Group at the Medical Research Council (MRC)/ Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) & London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) Uganda Research Unit. Ronald Kiyemba is Research Scientist with the Vaccine Theme at the Medical Research Council (MRC)/ Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) & London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) Uganda Research Unit.
Their activity promotes the 2024/25 ACEF theme, Disability inclusion in institutions.
Workshop on disability inclusion
Group photo with all attendees
On 6 November 2024, Andrew and Ronald organised a one-day workshop at their workplace, Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). UVRI is a medical research institute carrying out research on communicable diseases in man and animals, with a focus on viral transmitted infectious.
This workshop was important for researchers as they play an integral role in managing the research institutions and ensuring disability inclusion.
The workshop was attended by 50 participants, comprised of researchers and research administrators from health research institutions including UVRI, the UVRI-International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), MRC/ UVRI &, LSTHM Uganda Research Unit, Rakai Health Sciences Programme, and Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Entebbe, Uganda.
Also in attendance were representatives from Makerere University, Light for the World, Uganda, a local NGO supporting disability inclusion and the National Council for Persons with Disabilities, a government umbrella agency for all organisations for persons with disabilities.
Special guests included Dr Herbert Muyinda, Head, Child Health Development Centre, Makerere University, Prof Femke Bannink Mbazzi, Head of the Disability Research Group at MRC/ UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Ms Lydia Abenaitwe, Inclusion officer, Light for the World and Ms Lilian Namukasa, Ag Executive Secretary, Uganda National Council for Persons with Disabilities.
In developing and delivering the programme, Andrew and Ronald consulted with volunteers from the Disability Research Group at the MRC/ UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit to ensure sessions were representative of the experiences and requirements of persons with disabilities. This included ensuring all sessions were supported by a sign language interpreter and facilities were accessible.
Best practice in making research institutes disability inclusive
The workshop included talks by special guests on the challenges faced by persons with disabilities and the need for disability inclusion in the Ugandan health research institutions.
Dr Herbert Muyinda, a health researcher, discussed disability and impairment in the Ugandan context and categories for identification of disability. He shared the mechanisms of unlearning and re-imagining how to construct, produce and value knowledge in decolonising disability inclusive research.
Keynote speaker Ms Lydia Abenaitwe
Following Dr Muyinda’s talk, Ms Lydia Abenaitwe, Inclusion officer, Light for the World, provided an overview of how disability inclusion in health research can be conducted effectively. She highlighted the barriers faced by people with an impairment, such as societal barriers, and encouraged participants to be aware of all forms of disabilities. She discussed the need for collaborative workshops and forums to discuss strategies and share best practices for inclusive healthcare.
Ms Lilian Namukasa was invited to discuss disability inclusion from a policy maker’s perspective. She urged participants to form partnerships with key stakeholders, including NGOs, disability rights organisations, and community-based groups, to create a multi-sectoral approach.
Mr Ronald Kamusiime, a youth researcher with a disability, shared his experiences as an intern at a health research institute which helped in gaining skills and expertise as a disability researcher.
The workshop concluded with a round table discussion on best practices in making health research institutes disability inclusive. Participants discussed the need for health research institutes to increase opportunities for young persons with disabilities, such as enrolment on research courses and employment in research roles.
Scaling the activity
Presentation from the group discussions and engagements
The organisers gathered verbal feedback from participants to measure the impact of the workshop. It was realised that only one out of five health research institutes followed the practice of being inclusive and currently actively employed persons with disabilities as researchers. The workshop encouraged researchers and research administrators present to scale efforts to make their research units more disability inclusive.
Based on one of the recommendations from the workshop, both Andrew and Ronald hope to scale the activity by applying for an equity, diversity and inclusion grant to train champions for disability inclusion across various health research institutions.
Andrew and Ronald will provide ongoing additional support to researchers and institutions by drafting resources on best practices and lessons learned on disability inclusion.
Andrew Sentoogo Ssemata is a 2011 Commonwealth Shared Scholar and 2016 Split-site Scholar Scholar from Uganda. He completed a MSc Psychology of Health and Illness at Aston University and a PhD in Life Sciences at Aston University and Makerere University. Ronald Kiyemba is a 2018 Commonwealth Distance Learning Scholar from Uganda. He completed a MSc in Clinical Trials from London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
