Mildmay Uganda
Mildmay Uganda was Mildmay’s first international programme
Established in Kampala in 1998 as a Centre of Excellence for comprehensive HIV & AIDS prevention, care, treatment, and training services.
Our impact through our beneficiaries’ eyes
In 1998, Mildmay Uganda opened its gates to the public for comprehensive HIV care with just over 3,000 children waiting for the life-saving drugs through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
By the end of 2024, Mildmay Uganda had supported over 100,000 clients (13% of the total number of clients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in the country) 8,000 of them were children.
Mildmay Uganda is now an independent hospital and healthcare nonprofit NGO with its own Trustee Board. It has three core functions: the provision of HIV care and treatment services at the hospital, HIV-focused training and education and the provision of technical assistance to 16 districts in central Uganda to strengthen local health systems.
Care and treatment are provided predominantly on an outpatient basis for most clients. In addition to this, Elizabeth Ward, the 33-bed capacity children's ward (more recently a general ward), provides care for critically and terminally ill children aged 0-18 years.
911,000
Estimated disability-adjusted life years saved this year.
99%
of the patients remained in care, demonstrating exceptional adherence.
97%
of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART) achieved viral load suppression.
2%
rate at which mother-to-child HIV transmission was maintained, well below the national target of 5%.
4,890
Individuals received social-economic resilience services.
(2024)
Universal Fund
Since its introduction in 2002, the Universal Fund, originally the Child Sponsorship Programme, has supported over 2,000 children and adolescents with psychosocial support services* including economic empowerment of vulnerable households.
In 2017, Mildmay Uganda replaced individually allocated support for children with the Universal Fund to bring the same healthcare, education and food security benefits more equitably to more children and young people.
*Psychosocial support services offer emotional and psychological assistance to individuals or groups facing difficult circumstances, crises, or traumatic events. These services aim to address the mental, emotional, social, and spiritual needs of those affected, helping them cope with stress, trauma, and other challenges.
Elizabeth Ward
Mildmay UK provides annual funding for Elizabeth Ward at Mildmay Hospital, Kampala. For many years, it was the only facility in the region dedicated to providing high-quality care for children with the most complex HIV-related health conditions.
Restructuring and funding challenges for Mildmay Uganda Hospital mean that Elizabeth Ward now operates as a general ward. However, it remains a vital centre for paediatric care, continuing to treat children with complex HIV-associated illnesses.
Each year, the ward cares for over 500 patients, including children from underprivileged families who require specialist treatment. Patients are admitted with conditions such as HIV, tuberculosis, meningitis, and malaria. Care is tailored to each child's specific needs, with additional support provided to their families.
“Mildmay taught me that being born with HIV is not a death sentence. I want to show the world how to live positively with HIV.”
Cate Nakidde
Cate was operated on for abdominal TB, but after recovering in the Mildmay paediatric inpatient unit, she is once again a healthy, bubbly girl and became a leading light in Mildmay Uganda’s Noah’s Ark children’s choir.
Past work
A COVID story
At the beginning of September 2021, the Reverend Canon John Stanley, who was 90 on 20 May 2021, challenged himself to walk the City Walls of Chester 90 times by the date of his birthday.
John succeeded in this challenge, and raised over £2,900 for Mildmay Hospital in Uganda, to support its vital Covid vaccination initiatives.
Just one month later, we received an update from our colleagues in Mildmay Hospital in Uganda on the progress of their COVID-19 vaccination programme.
Mildmay’s double impact on vital Early Infant Diagnosis programme
Mildmay was a critical partner with the Ugandan government in a new and improved nationwide Early Infant Diagnosis (EID) programme in Uganda.
EID is a critical pillar in the response to HIV in Uganda as it allows health services to work alongside mothers and families to make decisions as soon as possible about the HIV care needed by every baby born across the country.
Reproductive health, family planning and PMTCT
Mildmay Uganda offers a range of services to young men and women, parents, and families with newborn children – these include a prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT) clinic, family planning services, breast and cervical cancer screening, screening for and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and reproductive, maternal and newborn health services.
The History of Mildmay Uganda
The seed of Mildmay’s international work was planted in 1993 following an invitation from the Government of Uganda.
The Medical Director of Mildmay at the time, Dr Veronica Moss said: “I was attending a conference on paediatric AIDS in Edinburgh, Scotland, in September 1993 when I met the Hon Manuel Pinto, MP for Rakai District, Uganda, and he said to me, "We must talk – I want Mildmay to come to Uganda.”
Mildmay Uganda's hospital was officially opened in September 1998 by Anne, The Princess Royal, and started receiving patients in October of the same year.
The Princess Royal was invited to do so after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, who had been scheduled to open the hospital.
Uganda was one of the African countries worst hit by the Aids epidemic. Few families remained untouched by the virus, with some 500,000 people having died and another two million - one in six of the population - infected by 1998.
The Queen Visits Mildmay Uganda
In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Mildmay Centre - opened by the Princess Royal in 1998.
In 2007, Queen Elizabeth II visited Mildmay Uganda and its paediatric care centre.
This was indicative of how significant the work done by Mildmay in Uganda had become.
During her visit, The Queen said: “Thank you Mildmay Uganda for the work and the remarkable example set in the provision of care and education for people living with HIV.”
At the Mildmay Paediatric Care Centre, HM The Queen unveiled a plaque for the hospital's new Elizabeth Ward, named in her honour.
The Queen later praised Mildmay's work in an address to the Ugandan Parliament, in which she declared:
"It is difficult sometimes, when the sorrow associated with this disease (HIV/AIDS) is so profound, to avoid a sense of despair. And yet there are growing numbers of people and organisations whose work gives cause for real hope.
Today I visited The Mildmay Centre, which sets a remarkable example in the provision of care and relief for those who are ill as well as in educating people about how to protect themselves and their families.
The role of centres such as this, which the Government of Uganda has done so much to encourage, will be central to achieving our common aim of controlling this cruel disease."
HM Queen Elizabeth ll
The President of Uganda, His Excellency President Yoweri Museveni, marked the 10th Anniversary of Mildmay Uganda with a special visit in October 2008, during which he unveiled the foundation stone of the centre’s new laboratory.
Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams visited Mildmay Uganda in 2010 to lend his support to the then-threatened paediatric inpatient unit.
Donate to the UGANDA Fund
Mildmay Uganda was registered as a local NGO in Uganda in September 2011 and is managed by a local Board of Trustees.
However, its vital work remains heavily dependent on support from the UK, particularly in these challenging times when other funding streams are uncertain or under threat.
Your generosity helps ensure that Mildmay Uganda can continue providing life-saving care to those who need it most.
*Mildmay in the UK supports our 'daughter' NGOs overseas
Mildmay KENYA and Mildmay UGANDA operate independently - they are locally registered with their own Boards of Trustees and constitutions. Although they undertake fundraising and partnership work locally, they rely on Mildmay's supporters in the UK to help fund their work.