Uganda Cancer Institute

Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) is a public, specialized, tertiary care medical facility owned by the Uganda Ministry of Health.

Location

The medical facility is located along Upper Mulago Hill Road, on Mulago Hill, Central Division, Kampala, about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) northeast of the central business district of the city.^[1] The coordinates of Uganda Cancer Institute are:0° 20' 24.00"N, 32° 34' 39.00"E (Latitude:0.3400; Longitude:32.5775).^[2]

Overview

Uganda Cancer Institute is an internationally renowned cancer treatment, research and teaching center, affiliated with Makerere University School of Medicine and with Mulago Hospital Complex, the teaching hospital for the medical school. The institute's legal and financial status is unique in that its budget is allocated directly from the Ugandan Ministry of Finance, separate from the university and separate from the teaching hospital. UCI maintains an inpatient facility with maximum capacity of 40 beds.

In October 2011, ground was broken for a three-story integrated cancer training and treatment facility, measuring nearly 60,000 square feet (5,600 m2). The new building, called the Uganda Cancer Institute/Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center Clinic and Training Institute, is a project of the UCI/Hutchinson Center Cancer Alliance, a collaboration of UCI and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington, USA.

History

Uganda Cancer Institute was founded in 1967 with twenty beds, as the Lymphoma Treatment Cnter (LTC), to treat childhood lymphomas, predominantly Burkitt's lymphoma, the most common childhood lymphoma in Uganda which is endemic in Tropical Africa. In 1969, the institute expanded to a total of 40 beds, when the Solid Tumor Center (STC) was added to focus research on Kaposi's sarcoma and Liver cancer. During the late 1960s and early 1970s UCI was a leading International medical research center, in its areas of specialisation. During these early days, UCI established collaboration with the National Cancer Institute (NCI), in Bethesda, Maryland, USA.

In 1972, following the expulsion of Ugandan Asians by dictator Idi Amin, nearly all National Cancer Institute's scientists left. Professor Charles Olweny, a Uganda researcher, interrupted his studies at NCI in the USA and returned to become the first Ugandan director of UCI.

In 1982, following the overthrow of Idi Amin, Professor Olweny was forced to leave Uganda for security reasons, leaving leadership of UCI in the hands of Professor Edward Katongole-Mbidde, MBChB, MMed, FRCP. When Dr. Katongole-Mbidde left UCI to become the director at Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) in 1995, Dr. Jackson Orem took over the helm at Uganda Cancer Institute.^[3]

International Collaboration

The International research centers with collaborative projects wuth Uganda Cancer Institute include, but ate not limited to the following:

1. National Cancer Institute - Bethesda, Maryland, USA
2. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center - Seattle, Washington, USA
3. Case Western Reserve University - Cleveland, Ohio, USA

List of Medical Directors of UCI

The following medical researchers have served as Director of Uganda Cancer Institute, since its foundation in 1967 until today:

1. Professor John Ziegler - American: 1967-1972
2. Professor Charles Olweny - Ugandan: 1972-1982
3. Dr. Edward Katongole-Mbidde - Ugandan: 1982-1995
4. Dr. Jackson Orem - Ugandan: 1995–Present

External links

• Website of Mulago Hospital Complex

Photos

• Artist's Impression of the UCI/FHCRC Treatment Center and Clinic Under Construction At Mulago, Kampala Uganda

See also

• Charles Olweny
• Hospitals in Uganda
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

References

Coordinates: 0°20′24″N 32°34′39″E / 0.3400°N 32.5775°E / 0.3400; 32.5775