Dr. Margaret Muganwa has her expertise in the fields of Environmental Health, Food Hygiene and Gender and Health. She is currently a professor at the Makerere University Institute of Public Health in Uganda. She is currently the President of the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa (SWAA) and is Vice-President of the Uganda branch of SWAA. The mission of SWAA is to advocate on the behalf of all women and children in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Margaret strives to raise awareness among the masses so that they will be empowered to urge their government to allocate funds to the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. She stresses the need to raise awareness among policy-makers, so as to reduce stigma and to have policies enacted to provide medical insurance, anti-retroviral drugs and proper nutrition for people living with HIV/AIDS. She also recognizes the gender disparity in treatment and prevention efforts.

In 2001, the Pan African Acupuncture Project began to provide acupuncture treatment to HIV/AIDS-positive patients after pilot studies suggested a number of treatment benefits, such as longer life, less pain, fewer gastrointestinal problems and fewer opportunistic infections. Margaret joined a small group with a few other doctors to develop the first training program in Kampala, Uganda for the project.

 

Information on HIV/AIDS in Uganda, end of 2003

Adult* HIV prevalence rate: 4.1%
Adults living with HIV: 450,000
Adults and children living with HIV: 530,,000
Women Living with HIV: 270,000
AIDS deaths (adults and children): 78,000

*Adult statistics for persons 15-49 years old

**statistics from deaths that occurred in 2003

Source: UNAIDS

Related Websites

http://www.swaainternational.org/

The official website for the Society for Women and AIDS in Africa.

http://www.maxpages.com/swaauganda

The official website for the Uganda chapter of the Society of Women and AIDS in Africa.

http://www.iph.ac.ug/staff-8.htm

The webpage for Dr. Margaret Muganwa on the Makerere University Institute of Public Health website.