Dr. Angela Musiimenta, a Ugandan scientist, has won the first German-African Innovation Incentive Award worth 150,000 euros for her outstanding research on technology-assisted interventions for improving the health of Ugandans.
Dr. Musiimenta who is a senior lecturer at Mbarara University of Science and Technology recently received the prize at a ceremony held in Germany where Anja Karliczek Germany’s Federal Minister for Research pointed out that the award was part of Germany’s Africa Strategy to support science, research and development on the continent.
In her statement, she said, “I am delighted that today we are able to bestow the awards on such promising talents and projects. The winners are courageously making inroads with their joint projects that create innovative solutions for Africa and offer her people new prospects. We are gathered here today in recognition of their scientific achievements and to help promote sustainable development on the African continent. Because we feel it is important, and this is a core objective of our Africa Strategy, to support scientists of both genders in their research. This is why we will be bestowing the awards in coming years, too, as we wish to continue to provide important stimuli for German-African cooperation and innovations in Africa.” Dr. Angela Musiimenta’s award-winning project was about using a novel multimedia application for mobile phones to improve health-related information for pregnant women in rural areas, including illiterate women in Uganda.
Uganda’s embassy in Berlin reported that her project aimed to develop a conceptual model for supporting maternal health using mobile phones. It also focuses on developing a mobile application composed of videos and audios for maternal health, available both for the literate and illiterate benefiting from the audio segment.
Dr. Angela’s innovation further sought to determine the impact of the application on the maternal health knowledge, their attitudes and practices, especially by women and to study accessibility, feasibility and effectiveness.
