Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit Travels to Uganda to Attend a National Symposium on Emergency Medical Services and a National Injury Forum

Recently, Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU) faculty and staff, including Drs. Abdul Bachani, Amber Mehmood and Isaac Botchey, traveled to Munyonyo, Uganda to attend a symposium and injury forum.

On April 25, 2017, the team attended a National Symposium on Emergency Medical Services (EMS). The objectives of the symposium were to: review the status of EMS in Uganda; clarify the roles of the various sectors and agencies in the EMS; make recommendations on how EMS in Uganda can be organized; and identify challenges to the delivery of care. Dr. Amber Mehmood presented a paper on a comprehensive EMS assessment in Kampala, Uganda. Presenting on different prehospital care models, Dr. Mehmood recommended to adopt a health systems approach for improving prehospital care. 165 people attended the symposium.

On April 26, 2017, faculty and staff attended the 3^rd National Uganda Injury Forum. The theme of the forum was “Mainstreaming injury prevention and control within and across sectors.” The objectives of the forum were to: describe the work of various sectors in addressing road traffic injuries, gender based violence and occupational injuries; explore the opportunities for working together; and propose practical ways of working across sectors. At the forum, Dr. Abdul Bachani chaired a session on multi-sectoral response to road traffic injury. Nearly 200 people attended the one-day forum.

The forum and symposium were both organized by the Johns Hopkins University-Makerere University Chronic Consequences of Trauma, Injury and Disability (JHU-MU Chronic TRIAD) program, funded by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Read more about the Chronic TRIAD program here.