STATEMENT FROM THE UVRI DIRECTOR

The Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) was established in 1936 by the International Division of the Rockefeller Foundation of the United States of America. It was then called the Yellow Fever Institute, as its focus was on yellow fever epidemiology. Over the years, a number of other, previously unknown, arboviruses were isolated, some of which proved to be of considerable medical importance.

By 1950, the Institute had gained wide recognition and became the East African Virus Research Institute (EAVRI). As a result of its outstanding scientific contribution to the study of arboviruses, the Institute was designated as a World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Reference Center for Arboviral Research.

Its scientific mission continued to be enriched through collaborations with re-known research institutions including the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) of the United Kingdom, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) in Lyons, France and in 1969 with WHO.

In subsequent years, extensive and valuable data on entero-and-respiratory viruses and the efficacy of vaccination with oral polio virus vaccine and measles vaccine were accumulated.

The collapse of the East African Community (EAC) in 1977 marked the end of the “golden years” of research for UVRI as the Institute quickly deteriorated when international support was stopped. Many international and national staff left the country as civil strife raged in the country till 1986. more