About the Project
NYU students Gaby Garcia, Aishwarya Rao, and Aakanksha Kuwar worked with the Uganda Academy of Sciences (UNAS) to support health in Uganda along the UNAS four pillars of: 1) trust in the sciences, 2) immunization, 3) equity and inclusion and, 4) a pandemic playbook. They worked on projects focused on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and vaccines, accountability in global health partnerships, and root causes of low immunization rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Crafting a strategic health plan required careful consideration of existing, scientific-based literature to ensure that steps are actionable and feasible.
Stakeholder analyses were vital to understanding the interdisciplinary nature of this health policy work. The policy brief developed sheds light on causes of under-immunization in SSA, such as mistrust, lack of knowledge, socioeconomic barriers, limitations in the immunization supply chain, and financial barriers. These causes were accompanied by recommendations with actionable steps to counter them. The final deliverables included a one-year AMR-vaccine action plan requiring stakeholder analysis and samples of newsletters and report designs, a literature review of existing global health partnerships in Uganda, and a policy brief addressing the root causes of low immunization rates in SSA.
About the Project Organization
“The Uganda National Academy of Sciences is an independent, non-profit, nonpolitical, and membership-based service organization. UNAS was created to provide credible, balanced, and evidence-driven advice to the nation on matters of science and development.
UNAS draws its membership from the Fellowship of the Academy who are recognized for their lifetime achievements in the sciences and humanities. Fellows are active contributors to the national and international academic community. The UNAS Fellowship is composed of scholars from disciplines including the natural and social sciences, as well as the arts and humanities—all of whom have been selected through a rigorous vetting process.
UNAS is composed of three distinct bodies: the General Assembly, the Council, and the Secretariat. The General Assembly is the supreme decision-making body of the Academy made up of the complete Fellowship. The Council is the organization’s board, and its role includes overall leadership of the Academy, the setting of strategic aims, mobilization of human and financial resources for effective functioning of the Academy, review of management performance, the setting of the Academy’s values, and standards, and ensuring that the Academy meets its various obligations to the law, its stakeholders, and ethical conduct. Council members serve for 3-year terms up to a maximum of 6 years pending re-election. The Secretariat executes the strategic direction defined by the Council by formulating and implementing specific programs while running the day-to-day operations of UNAS.”
About the Students
Gaby Garcia received her bachelor’s degree in global public health and anthropology at New York University.
Dr. Aishwarya Rao is an internationally trained dentist and a graduate of the NYU School of Global Public Health, earning her Master’s in Public Health (MPH) degree with a concentration in global health.
Aakanksha kuwar is a second-year MPH student at the New York University School of Global Public Health with a concentration in global health.