President Yoweri Museveni has applauded Makerere University for fostering development through science and technology, and hailed Makerere scientists for their innovations and research projects to find solutions to challenges of present times.
Who on Thursday was the guest of honor at the ceremony held at Makerere University to mark the University’s 100 years of existence, said science is the prima of all social change.
“I congratulate Makerere especially the science side. The prima of social change is science and technology. So, when we came here [in 1986], I ordered Makerere to start the Faculty of Food Science because it was not there, also the Faculty of Quantitative Economics. I insisted on that. Then expanding the other Faculties; the Faculty of Medicine, started Mbarara University. Therefore, I congratulate you especially the Science Faculty. Medicine, those are in the line of the bible [establish dominion over nature]. Establish dominion over Ebola, establish dominion over Corona (COVID-19), establish dominion over all these diseases. So, those ones, I congratulate them. They are trying,” Museveni said.
“The other Science Faculties, I congratulate them because they are trying. In Technology, they have produced our Kiira vehicle; Dr Muranga of Food Science is busy with the bananas. The Science groups are trying. With science, there is some progress, and that is why I have been pushing it. Science is the primer of all social change. If you don’t deal with science, you may even not exist,” he added.
The Makerere University Chancellor, Prof Ezra Suruma addressing guests at the ceremony to mark 100 years of Makerere University on Thursday.
As Makerere marks 100 years of excellence in building a transformed society, a lot of landmark research has been carried out by the University’s health scientists.
Recently, Prof. Harriet Mayanja Kizza, the professor of Medicine at Makerere University College of Health Sciences highlighted a number of interesting research projects carried out at the College.
Notable among them is the research on HIV before the introduction of ARVs.
“HIV before the year 1996, we had no ARVs in Uganda. People were dying. Among the people who died was my cousin. She was brought to me in Mulago, I was a physician then. She had HIV, and she had severe pneumonia. We gave her all kinds of antibiotics, we gave her amoxicillin, etc. The girl didn’t survive. She passed on. A couple of years later, we discovered through work done in Uganda that this pneumonia the girl had, was due to an organism, now called PJP, and overtime as research was done in Uganda, we found or confirmed that a simple drug like Septrin could have saved my cousin,” she said.
After that experience, Prof Mayanja said they started using Septrin for treating the infections in HIV.
Guests attending Makerere at 100 main celebrations on Thursday
The researchers also confirmed that Septrin can prevent other infections in HIV, infection of the brain, toxoplasmosis, and diarrhoea.
In the early days of HIV, many patients had diarrhoea. Due to the efforts of dedicated researchers at Makerere University, they found that diarrhoea and malaria could be controlled.
In their research, they discovered that Septrin could control malaria in HIV, toxoplasmosis in HIV, pneumonia in HIV, and the drug (Septrin) has since been used to control these infections in HIV patients.
The only infection Septrin could not control was tuberculosis (TB).
The researchers also discovered that TB was the common cause of death among HIV patients.
“We started looking at HIV and TB interaction, and discovered some of the mechanisms of this interaction,” said Prof Mayanja.
Former Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda attending Makerere at 100 celebrations on Thursday.
In the past 100 years, more interesting research has been done at Makerere University.
In 1972, a lecturer in the Department of Pharmacology described prostaglandins, and set the pace for treatment.
He brought a lot of attention to work being done at Makerere, and was poached by Singapore.
Prostaglandins are a group of physiologically active liquid compounds having diverse hormone-like effects in animals, and can be exploited as treatments.
The Makerere lecturer who described prostaglandins noted that after a woman’s delivery, the baby’s umbilical cord stops bleeding. Dr Sultan Karim who was of Indian origin, through his observation, he was able to make a connection, and wrote a ground breaking piece of work which was eventually confirmed that what he had observed (the stopping of bleeding of umbilical cord after delivery) was the effect of prostaglandins.
This eventually led to the use of prostaglandins in inducing labor.
Meanwhile, Museveni discouraged Ugandans from pursuing social sciences disciplines.
He however asked African social scientists to study African societies before the on set of colonialism, and why why Europeans colonized Africa.
The University Chancellor, Prof Ezra Suruma applauded NRM Government saying that it has over the last few decades created the right policy environment for the education sector in Uganda to thrive.
He noted that the third National Development Plan (NDP III) illustrates well the continued investment in the sector by Government over the National Development Plan periods I and II.
“This investment has resulted in 92% of all parishes having a government-aided primary school, 71% of all sub-counties having a government-aided secondary school and all major regions of the country having a public university. NDP III further notes that enrolment at the tertiary level now stands at about 259,000 of which 162,299 are attending universities,” said Prof Suruma.
The Minister of State for Higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo speaking at the ceremony to mark 100 years of Makerere University on Thursday.
In addition, he said Government has increasingly made funding allocations to research and innovations at Makerere and other public institutions.
The Makerere University Research and Innovations Fund alone has awarded 775 projects over the last three financial years and 77 new ones this financial year 2022/2023.
“The requirement for these projects to inform national development priorities will ensure that the education acquired by our young men and women can also be turned into solutions that can truly impact our communities. I therefore thank the Government of Uganda and our development partners for continuing to prioritise funding for teaching, research and innovations,” Suruma said.
The Archbishop of Church of Uganda, Dr Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu arriving at Makerere University to attend Makerere at Celebrations on Thursday
The ceremony to mark 100 years of Makerere’s existence was attended by various dignitaries who included; the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Thomas Tayebwa, former Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, Minister for Security, Maj Gen Jim Muhwezi, the Minister of State for Higher Education, John Chrysostom Muyingo and other Ministers, KCCA Executive Director, Dorothy Kisaka, the U.S Ambassador to Uganda, Natalie Brown, the Archbishop of Church of Uganda, Dr Stephen Kaziimba Mugalu among others.
