Joint Clinical Research Centre

The JCRC Mbale Regional Centre of Excellence

Overview

The Mbale RCE is located in the Eastern town of Mbale, right in the heart of the town, and is currently housed in the ministry of health hospital building along Pallisa road. The RCE was established in 2002, and started as a small JCRC outreach unit, operating in 3 small rooms with two support staff. The main reasons for its establishment was to expand antiretroviral treatment to the rural communities of Uganda. Visiting health staff from JCRC Mengo used to see patients in these rooms, dispense medication, take blood samples of clients and collect medical records to the Kampala clinic every Wednesday. Drugs at that time were brought in from Kampala and beneficiaries were mainly cash and carry clients. Today the centre is a fully fledged health facility with a pharmacy, data unit, administrative wing and state of the art laboratory serving the entire Eastern region of Uganda.

The RCE currently has seventeen members of staff, most of whom are implementing the THALAS project and other clinical trials protocols. The RCE also collaborates with Infectious Diseases Clinic and Ministry of Health to implement the SUSTAIN project. Mbale RCE also collaborates with other HIV care partners including The AIDS Support Organisation, AIDS Information Centre, among other local NGOs and CBOs. Under the TREAT program, the RCE used to serve as the regional control unit for six lower sites: Mbale Regional Referral Hospital, Mukujju health centre IV Tororo, Kapchorwa hospital, Ngora Freda Carr hospital, Soroti regional referral hospital and Katakwi hospital, as well as outreach clinics in Busia, Arlington academy in Bududa, Sironko-Muyembe and Pallisa.

Activities

Patient Care: The RCE currently provides antiretroviral therapy for both first and second line treatment, pain management and management of opportunistic infections. Pre-test and post test counseling and ART adherence counseling are also done. Under adherence, the following services are provided; health education talks at the clinic, clients' and care-givers workshops carried out with the main objective of increasing awareness on ART and adherence to clients on drugs, Community sensitization talks and enhancement psychosocial support to clients & family members. Children are also monitored using growth charts.

Laboratory services: With a state of the ART laboratory in place the RCE is empowered to offer a whole range of diagnostic and monitoring laboratory tests including CD4, DNA, HIV Rapid and ELISA testing, HIV drug resistance, Viral load, Syphilis tests, among others. The microbiology laboratory at the site is able to perform TB screening (sputum analysis for AAFBs), the autoclave for waste disposal is fully functional. Other laboratories at the site include virology, haematology, chemistry and immunology.

Operational research: Three multi-site clinical trials protocols are currently being implemented at the RCE: Pharmaccess African Studies to Evaluate HIV-Drug Resistance Monitoring (PASER), Monitoring Antiretroviral Therapy in Children (MARCH) and Europe-Africa Research Network To Evaluate Second-line Therapy (EARNEST). The site has participated and completed the JCRC Children's Study (JCS) cohort.