Professor Peter Waiswa’s Community Service:
A Legacy of Grassroots Impact
Professor Peter Waiswa is deeply committed to translating academic excellence into real-world impact through transformative community service in Uganda and beyond. His contributions include:
Leader in Faith-Based Health Outreach
He spearheads a groundbreaking initiative to provide preventive and curative health services for clergy in the Jinja Catholic Diocese. This includes annual medical camps, structured health checks for priests and religious leaders, and organizing a sustainable healthcare system through diocesan coordination.
Founder and Advocate for Busoga Health Forum (BHF)
A strategic platform to improve health in the Busoga region by mobilizing professionals, youth, and local leadership. BHF facilitates research, capacity building, tropical disease control, and local innovation for public health improvement.
Mentor and Advocate for Public Engagement
Beyond institutions, Professor Waiswa uses public platforms—including radio, public forums, and upcoming personal blogs and podcasts—to educate and empower citizens on public health issues like immunization, maternal and newborn care, and adolescent health.
- Professor Peter Waiswa with overwhelming statistics on mothers and children dying in Uganda due to birth complications.
- `Dr Peter Waiswa on the big challenges facing HPSR
- Professor Peter Waiswa on how to reverse the overwhelming statistics of mothers and children dying in Uganda due to birth complications.
- Introducing Health Pot| Maternal health | Prof. Dr. Peter Waiswa.
- Stars in Global Health: Dr. Peter Waiswa
- BBC Breakfast Interview: The Fight for #globalaid
- Malaria campaign to involve political, cultural leaders
- PROF PETER WAISWA tells his life story
- Prof. Peter Waiswa’s Advice to Young People on Healthy Living & Preventing Teenage Pregnancy
- Introducing Health Pot| Maternal health | Prof. Dr. Peter Waiswa
- UN set new targets to protect more moms, babies
- Dr Peter Waiswa on the big challenges facing HPSR
- Decision making for new vaccine introduction
Promoter of Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Heritage
He is actively documenting his family and Busoga region’s cultural practices (e.g., twin births) to preserve and share community knowledge, beliefs, and resilience across generations.
Advancing Health and Development from the Grassroots Up
Professor Peter Waiswa is a public health leader whose community service is deeply woven into his professional identity. Through visionary initiatives, developmental research, and practical implementation, he has transformed countless lives across Uganda and Africa. His model of “developmental research” — which blends science, service, and policy — ensures that every research endeavor creates tangible community impact.
Founder and Leader of Transformative Community Initiatives
One Village at a Time (OVAAT)
A model village program in Naigobya, Luuka District, OVAAT empowers rural communities through improved early childhood development, education, maternal and child health, sustainable farming, and environmental greening. The participatory, multisectoral model is designed for replication across Uganda and beyond.
Uganda Development and Health Associates (UDHA)
As founder of UDHA, one of Uganda’s most impactful community-based NGOs, Professor Waiswa has advanced public health through education, reproductive health services, HIV prevention, adolescent outreach, and health systems advocacy in underserved areas.
Developmental Research as Community Service
Professor Waiswa’s research is designed to serve communities directly. Through applied implementation and policy research, he has:
Trained thousands of community health workers (CHWs) and facility-based health workers in MNCH, immunization, and adolescent health across Uganda and Africa.
Established neonatal care units and operationalized operating theatres in rural and peri-urban areas to expand lifesaving care for mothers and newborns.
Influenced national and regional health policy, ensuring that scientific evidence drives practical health systems innovations and equity-focused reforms.
Service Through Leadership and Networks
As an active Rotarian, he contributes to humanitarian service, leadership development, and youth empowerment.
Board Member
He serves on multiple local and global boards, including NGOs, academic networks, philanthropic organizations, and global health bodies—amplifying his influence in shaping equitable and sustainable health systems.
Promoter of Culture, Knowledge, and Public Engagement
Cultural Preservation
Professor Waiswa is documenting indigenous knowledge and cultural traditions in Busoga—particularly those around twin births—to preserve community narratives and intergenerational wisdom.
Public Health Advocate
He is a trusted public educator, using media platforms, public forums, and upcoming personal blogs and podcasts to inform citizens on immunization, maternal and newborn care, adolescent health, and gender equity.
A Legacy of Grassroots Impact
In summary, Professor Peter Waiswa’s community service reflects a rare blend of visionary leadership, local rootedness, and global engagement. Whether through village development, health worker training, systems innovation, or public education, he continues to inspire sustainable development — one community, one policy, and one life at a time.
