PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ario, Alex R.
AU  - Kwiringira, Andrew
AU  - Migisha, Richard
AU  - Kwesiga, Benon
AU  - Bulage, Lilian
AU  - Kadobera, Daniel
AU  - Kisaakye, Esther
AU  - Asio, Alice
AU  - Zalwango, Maria’ G.
AU  - Zalwango, Jane F.
AU  - Rutazaana, Damian
AU  - Opigo, Jimmy
AU  - Harris, Julie R.
AU  - Rollins, Kyree
AU  - Niang, Mame
AU  - Boore, Amy L.
AU  - Nelson, Lisa J.
AU  - Belay, Kassahun
TI  - Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program’s Contributions to Malaria Control Programs 2015–2022: Strategies, Implementation Challenges, and Opportunities
AID  - 10.9745/GHSP-D-23-00257
DP  - 2025 Dec 31
TA  - Global Health: Science and Practice
PG  - e2300257
VI  - 13
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/13/2/e2300257.short
4100  - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/13/2/e2300257.full
SO  - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT2025 Dec 31; 13
AB  - Key MessagesThe Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program (UPHFP) contributed to 50 malaria-related projects, including outbreak investigations, surveillance evaluations, and quality improvement initiatives. The UPHFP program also improved malaria surveillance systems by introducing the Malaria Epidemic Early Detection System, enabling the early detection and timely response to malaria outbreaks.Embedding fellows into existing Ministry of Health programs enhances workforce capacity. Fellowship programs like UPHFP can serve as a scalable model for other low-resource settings, emphasizing the importance of targeted capacity-strengthening, mentorship, and integration within national health systems.The Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program (UPHFP) is a 2-year, non-degree-granting field epidemiology training program. It enrolls only post-Master’s degree fellows, who are integrated during their training into key Ministry of Health (MOH) programs, such as the National Malaria Control Program, and supported technically and financially by the U.S. President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the nature and extent of the UPHFP contributions to the malaria control programs have not been systematically documented. We describe how the UPHFP strategies contributed to malaria control programs and share implementation challenges and opportunities to inform future programming. From 2015 to 2022, UPHFP led or supported 50 malaria projects, including 14 malaria surveillance projects, 11 malaria outbreak investigations, 7 epidemiological studies, 5 case studies, 6 malaria quality improvement projects, 3 policy briefs, and 4 training and mentorship projects. These projects have informed policy decisions and strengthened surveillance, coordination, and response to malaria outbreaks. A key challenge is single-source funding that makes the program more vulnerable to changes in donor priorities. Our documentation demonstrates the critical value of UPHFP to the country’s malaria control efforts by enhancing epidemiologic workforce capacity and strengthening epidemiological surveillance.