WHO IS LATE DR.STEPHEN ASIIMWE SANDE

By Wilber Muhwezi Kasibante
www.mknewslink.com
In Sheema/ Kampala—
Dr. Stephen Asiimwe was a Ugandan physician-scientist, epidemiologist and global-health programme leader.
He directed the MUST–Massachusetts General Hospital Global Health Collaborative, taught community health and worked on HIV, lung disease, environmental health and research capacity in western Uganda.
Late Dr. Asiimwe was travelling with members of the Free Bikers and Ride Safe group when a truck struck him in Tanga Region. The group had left Uganda on 16 September and travelled through Nairobi on its way to Tanzania. Asiimwe was described as the team’s leader.
He served as Director of the Global Health Collaborative, a partnership linking Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital and Mbarara University of Science and Technology with Harvard University and Massachusetts General Hospital in the United States.
He was also a board member of Health Access Connect Uganda.
Asiimwe studied medicine and surgery at Makerere University before pursuing epidemiology and biostatistics at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
He later obtained a doctorate in public health from the University of Georgia.
His career included work with Uganda’s Ministry of Health, local governments, universities and civil-society organizations.
He also served as chairperson of the AIDS Information Centre’s Mbarara regional committee and previously worked in HIV prevention and research at the Uganda AIDS Commission.
Asiimwe was a keen motorcyclist, runner, nature enthusiast and traveler. He regularly documented long-distance rides around Uganda and across the region.
In July, he joined fellow riders on a 1,062-kilometre journey to Fort Portal, where he participated in the Fort Portal City Marathon.
He completed the 21-kilometre race in two hours, 34 minutes and 22 seconds before continuing an adventure ride through western Uganda.
His death has left Uganda’s medical and motorcycling communities mourning a respected researcher whose professional life was devoted to public health and whose personal life reflected a passion for travel and adventure.