HAAD announces opening of the Zayed, Makerere University, Johns Hopkins University Family Care Center

Located on the grounds of Mulago Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, the new family care center is dedicated to providing holistic support and care to AIDS/HIV-infected and affected families, aiming to improve their health status through research, training, prevention and treatment.

In 2008, MU-JHU received generous funding to build this family care center from His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates and His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

H. E. Dr. Ahmed Mubarak Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Health Authority - Abu Dhabi, stated that through the generous support of His Highness the President, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, we have been able to become part of the MU-JHU Research Collaboration/Care Center. Dr. Al Mazrouei added

"This center has the potential to become one of the leading human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Research and Family Care Centers in Africa. The completion of the new center comprising 17,800 square feet will greatly enhance local capacity for research and treatment. It is an honor to support such a program."

"The new facility will help provide the care and vocational training needed by so many affected families in Uganda," said Edward D. Miller, M. D., Dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine. "The generosity of the Al Nahyan family is admirable and much appreciated."

Dr. Philippa Musoke, Department of Pediatrics, Makerere University School of medicine expressed thanks on behalf of the MU-JHU families and staff for the beautiful new Zayed Family Care Center. The five-story building of the Family Care Center houses clinic facilities, program and administrative offices, a video conference center, a nutrition clinic and facilities for vocational training to help support income generating activities for HIV affected families.

Dr. Musoke added "We are excited to have these beautiful new facilities dedicated to the comprehensive care and treatment of HIV infected women and their families in Uganda. We thank the Al Nahyan family of the United Arab Emirates for their generosity. It is great to see the UAE Royal family reaching out to help Africans across the continent and improve the lives of families affected by the HIV pandemic, which has taken its heaviest toll in Africa."

The Zayed-MU-JHU Family Care Center uses a family care model of HIV/AIDS care and treatment developed by the MU-JHU Research Collaboration project team, led by Dr. Philippa Musoke and Dr. Deo Wabwire, Makarere University School of Medicine. The model focuses on providing psychosocial support, family planning, and nutritional counseling for HIV-infected women and their families. Dr. Musoke has effectively advocated for pediatric HIV care in Uganda to ensure children, as well as adults receive life saving HIV treatment, along with support for their unique psychosocial and academic needs.

The Makerere University - Johns Hopkins University (MU-JHU) Research Collaboration was formed in 1988 by faculty of the two medical schools. For almost two decades, investigators with the MU-JHU Research Collaboration have developed effective strategies for reducing the risk of HIV transmission from mothers to babies, and improved HIV treatment and care in one of the world's most severely affected countries.