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March 2026

The Reach team travelled to Kampala, Uganda to participate in the kick-off meeting for a collaborative project to adapt andscale the ADUNU (Accelerating Delivery of Rheumatic Heart Disease Prevention inNorthern Uganda) program across Africa.

The meeting brought together the four key partners: Reach, The Rheumatic Heart Disease Research Collaborative in Uganda (RRCU),Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center: Global RHD Research and Advocacy Center (CCHMC), and the University of Washington Department of Global Health(UW). Together, the partners engaged in three days of structured discussions, gaining a deeper understanding of the ADUNU model, and aligned on prioritiesfor the next phase of work.

As part of the collaboration, Reach will lead the Policy and Engagement workgroup and contribute situational readiness analyses to identify and support potential partner countries for ADUNU expansion.

This four-year project is supported by Coefficient Giving and aims to establish a scalable and adaptable model of ADUNU service deliveryin Uganda, with the potential for replication across other African countries.

The ADUNU program— developed through a partnership of the Uganda Heart Institute, the RRCU, and the Ugandan Ministry of Health (MOH)—is the first large-scale, replicable model for early detection long-term management of rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The program trains nurses to conduct echocardiographic screening in clinics, schools, and communities, strengthens confirmatory diagnostic capacity, and uses a national cloud-based registry (the ACT platform) to track patients and support ongoing care, including secondary prophylaxis.

To learn more about the ADUNU program, visit the RRCU website.

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