Quality Medicine Use for Children in Uganda (ChildMed)

project summary

The overall objective is to contribute to improving the quality of medicine use for children in Uganda through multi-disciplinary research and to build capacity by research training. The research plan was developed jointly by Ugandan and Danish participants during a workshop in Kampala. We hypothesise that appropriate medicinal treatment depends on four key dimensions: coherency of policies relevant to children’s medicine use; accurate diagnostic procedures; availability and adequate use of appropriate medicines; effective communication of perceptions and knowledge. These dimensions are explored through case studies of four contrasting medication scenarios: Respiratory diseases, epilepsy, HIV/AIDS and worms (schistosomiasis). The project activities fall into 3 phases: Inception phase; operational research; finalisation. Each phase ends with a workshop for relevant actors. Outputs comprise e.g. 4 Ugandan Masters degrees, 4 Ugandan PhD degrees, 2 completed postdocs, situational analyses, policy briefs, 23 scientific papers and a book. To support ownership, sustainability and implementation the findings are shared with Ugandan stakeholders at different levels: Politicians, policy makers, health care staff, NGOs and researchers and the researched population. Research dissemination will be addressed through conference presentations and publications in international journals. The project has an interactive website: http://childmed.ku.dk/