Table 3 Makerere University SPH - Master of Public Health alumni and residents supported COVID-19 response in Uganda

Makerere SPH in Uganda deployed 40 front-line epidemiologists from the Master of Public Health (MPH) programme to support the COVID-19 response in Uganda from March 2020. These included 26 MPH alumni volunteers, six current residents, and eight MPH alumni employed by the Uganda Ministry of Health. The Epidemiologists were mostly deployed in Kampala and the surrounding districts where the COVID-19 burden was highest. In April 2020, eight of the MPH alumni volunteers were deployed by the Ministry of Health to support the strengthening of COVID-19 decentralized response. The alumni were deployed in districts with regional referral hospitals to set up rapid response and alert management systems, support epidemiological investigation of cases and contacts, operationalize protocols for sample collection and quarantine site management, and oversee reporting and line lists management. The alumni also supported districts in activating their task force and submitting daily situation reports to the emergency operations centre. Following a rise in the number of cross-border truck drivers that tested positive for COVID-19, another team of 8 MPH alumni and residents were deployed at major Uganda border entry points to set up and activate surveillance team to investigate COVID-19 cases, list their contacts and follow up appropriately.