Sharifu Kiragga Tusuubira
Born4 January 1991 (1991-01-04) (age 33)
Kampala, Uganda
NationalityUgandan
Alma materMakerere University BS, MSc.
OccupationBiomedical scientist
Known forSickle cell advocacy
Awards
  • 100 Leaders of Impact (2021)
  • International Sickle Cell Advocate of the Year (2020)
  • Most Outstanding Community Outreach Award (2018)

Sharifu Kiragga Tusuubira (born 4 January 1991) is a sickle cell advocate in Uganda.[1] He is best recognised for his role in starting community sickle cell screening. An initiative that enables people to take the sickle cell screening test and receive results instantly from the confines of their villages.[2][1][3]

Biography

Sharifu was born on 4 January 1991, in Kampala to Ashadu Zizinga Magatto (d. 2020), a health inspector and Ritah Bazanya, a police officer. Sharifu is a great grandson of Taibu Magatto, the first Katambala (Chief) of Butambala, the only county given to the Ugandan muslim community by the British Imperial Government in the 1900 Buganda agreement.

Sharifu received his bachelor's degree in biomedical laboratory technology from Makerere University in 2012. He later went on to graduate with a master's degree in biomedical laboratory science and management from the same university. In 2017, he attended the Civic Leadership Institute at Kansas State University.[4][5] He was the first Executive Director of the Uganda Sickle Cell Rescue Foundation (USCRF) a non-profit organisation working to promote awareness, sensitisation and fighting Sickle Cell Disease in Uganda (a position he held until July 2019).[6][3][7] He is a doctoral fellow at the University of Kansas.[8][9][10][11][12] He is a board member at the Uriel Owens Sickle Cell Disease Association of the Midwest.[13][14]

Sickle cell advocacy

Sharifu Kiragga Tusuubira is a strong proponent for and an advocate of sickle cell and disability rights in Uganda. His advocacy started while at Makerere University, following a moment of personal heartbreak wherein a lady he was in love with rejected him because of sickle cell. This motivated Sharifu to get involved and change the status quo of how the sickle cell was viewed.[15][2]

Sharifu has advocated for people living with sickle cell disease to have rights to independent thinking, participate freely in community activities or further Agency and enjoy the same privileges as the ‘normal’ people in Uganda.[3][16][17][18][19][20][21]

Living with sickle cell, Sharifu provides a firsthand narrative through his lived experiences to address issues of care, behaviour, stigma, and discrimination among persons with sickle cell in different locales. Sharifu reached over 60,150 people, set up 18 support networks and registered 20,153 across the Uganda.[14][7] He was part of the team behind the Kabaka birthday run for sickle cell in Uganda(2017-2019), an initiative aimed at engaging communities in the sickle cell fight while raising funds to support the sickle cell programs.[22]

Across the region, Sharifu has played a key role in supporting sickle cell advocacy.[23][24] Sharifu was instrumental in the launch of the East Africa Sickle Cell Alliance. He is a co -founder of the Pan African Sickle Cell Federation International, an organisation working to promote sickle cell policy and advocacy across Africa.[25] In 2017, Sharifu was selected as a Mandela Washington Fellow, as part of the Young African Leaders Initiative under the United States Department of State.[26]

Career

Sharifu's career started in 2009 at Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine Animal Resource and Biosecurity where he worked as a research assistant until 2010. He then moved on to work as a Biomedical laboratory technologist in the same university and department from 2010 to 2012.

In 2012, he worked at the Central Public health laboratory, Ministry of Health. In 2013, he took on the role of Executive Director for the Uganda Sickle Cell Rescue Foundation, Kampala. In the same year, he also took on the role of Assistant Professor at the Institute of Allied Health Sciences at Clarke International University, Kampala.[27][28]

Awards

Sharifu is the pioneer recipient of the Clarke International University Most Outstanding community outreach award in 2018. In 2020, Sharifu received the International Sickle Cell Advocate of the Year (2020) award at the 7th Sickle Cell Advocates of the Year Awards courtesy of Sickle Cell 101.[29][30][2] He has been named among the 100 Leaders of Impact in 2021 by the Global Thinkers Forum.[31] He has been nominated for the Outstanding Young Alum award at the inaugural Alumni Impact Awards by the US Mission Uganda.[32]

References

  1. 1 2 Uganda young leaders-US Embassy, Kampala. "Speaker of Parliament, Uganda and US Ambassador to Uganda flag off, Mandela Fellows" 15 June 2017,
  2. 1 2 3 "Your mail: Well done, Sharifu Tusuubira!". The Observer - Uganda. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Young African Leaders Initiative "YALI Voices Podcast: Sharifu Tusuubira champions the cause of those living with sickle cell disease" December 2018,
  4. ↑ , Staley School of Leadership Studies "Staley School of Leadership Studies to host Mandela Washington Fellows" 13 June 2017,
  5. ↑ Mandela Washington Fellows: 2017 Civic Leadership Institute 12 October 2017,
  6. ↑ The International Research & Exchanges Board "Sharifu Kiragga Tusuubira" March 2017
  7. 1 2 Global Thinkers Forum "Leaders of Tomorrow - Sharifu Tusuubira" October 2018
  8. ↑ "Jayhawk Impact Awards". Student Involvement & Leadership Center. 6 March 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  9. ↑ "Sharifu Kiragga Tusuubira". Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. 29 April 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  10. ↑ Peterson | @lucyepeterson, Nicole Asbury | @NicoleAsbury & Lucy. "ICE rescinds policy mandating international students take in-person instruction". The University Daily Kansan. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  11. ↑ "2019-20 Leader Quest Profiles". International Support Services. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  12. ↑ Conde | @Chris_Conde_, Lucy Peterson | @lucyepeterson & Chris. "An already vulnerable group: Graduate students navigate fresh anxiety due to COVID-19 pandemic". The University Daily Kansan. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  13. ↑ "The Board". sicklecellmidwest. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  14. 1 2 "Episode 56 Sickle Cell Disease: Invisible Illness, Enduring Strength – This Podcast Will Kill You". Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  15. ↑ The Sickle Cell Warrior Diary "The journey of HOPE from Wandegeya to America" 27 September 2019,
  16. ↑ The Daily Monitor "Hope for Sickle Cell patients" 7 July 2016,
  17. ↑ The Daily Monitor "Medical Options for people living with sickle cell" 14 August 2014,
  18. ↑ Uganda Sickle Cell Rescue Foundation "My burden is my purpose" 4 September 2017,
  19. ↑ Biomedical Central Public health "Knowledge, perception and practices towards sickle cell disease" 27 April 2018,
  20. ↑ Adolescent health medicine and therapeutics "To Join Or Not To Join? A Case Of Sickle Cell Clubs, Stigma And Discrimination In Secondary Schools In Butambala District, Uganda" 2 October 2019,
  21. ↑ Ninsiima, Charlotte (20 April 2016). "Time to focus on sickle cell tragedy in Uganda". The Independent Uganda. Retrieved 1 March 2021.
  22. ↑ Ministry of Health receives sickle cell kits from Birthday run
  23. ↑ Betty Amamukirori "Businessmen contribute sh50m towards sickle cell fight" New Vision Uganda 8 May 2016
  24. ↑ John Muto-Ono P "Uganda moves to fight sickle cell disease" Blackstar news, Uganda 21 June 2016
  25. ↑ Gilmore Tee Show. Cliff Central. South Africa "World Sickle Cell Day" 22 Jun 2018
  26. ↑ "Home". mandelawashingtonfellowship.org.
  27. ↑ CIU. "Public Lecture; "Dare to Dream"". Clarke International University - Lead • Innovate • Transform. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  28. ↑ CIU. "Connecting classroom theory to real life skills application through community based initiatives". Clarke International University - Lead • Innovate • Transform. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  29. ↑ "SCAY Awards | Sickle Cell 101". Sickle Cell 101 9/19. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  30. ↑ "2020 SCAY Awards | Sickle Cell 101". Sickle Cell 101 9/19. Retrieved 11 July 2020.
  31. ↑ "100 Social Impact Leaders - Our 10th Anniversary Publication". Global Thinkers Forum. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  32. ↑ Uganda, U. S. Mission (21 January 2023). "United States Embassy Honors Ugandan Exchange Program Alumni | January 21, 2023". U.S. Embassy in Uganda. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
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