CEO, USA

Tom R. Muyunga-Mukasa is a 2017 recipient of the White House Commendation for his contribution to the HIV/AIDS Prevention & Funding Policy. SAI’s goals resonated with Tom’s desire to address gender parity and equality. As a skilled health care provider, this places Tom at the intersection of triggers of trauma and redress. Tom is an iterative research and program implementer in the three interfacing dimensions of health; development and; social justice with emphasis on the UN SDGs. Tom combines his experience and skills to design durable projects cascading into the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. As a clinician with Uganda MoH, Tom has effectively participated in a range of short and long-term HIV/Infectious Diseases Prevention and Care Roll out activities. Currently, Tom is a go to person as far as Key Populations go in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Congo, Rwanda and Kenya. In Uganda in 1999 while still at Medical School, he founded the Good Samaritan CBO which served Orphans and Vulnerable Children. He specifically trained members to form social support viable support groups which then negotiated for logistics and provisions to address the ravages of HIV and Poverty. By 2000, there were 232 CBOs he had helped initiate with a total of over 100, 000 members. Tom was identified as an international Trainer by UNAIDS and that enabled Tom travel and train other CBOs in 15 African countries. Tom is skilled at eradicating forward HIV and infectious diseases’ transmission as well as implementing SRH/RMNCAH care protocols.

Confident Chief Executive Officer, SAI USA, assured of good fruits from the activities Implemented by SAI.

Tom’s skills are varied and segue into community organization, Social change catalysis, justice and civil rights advocacy, competent quality improvement consultant, worked as an epidemiologist, environmental health specialist, writer, poet and motivational speaker. It was with this background that he was chosen to be part of a loose network around 2008-2009.  This later became the first Uganda Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM). It was the opportunity in which he demonstrated his power to point out where Ugandan CBOs/CSOs/FBOs could come in. Tom advocated for a Public-Private presence in the HIV Prevention response in Uganda. This experience was carried over in all his trainings which adopted ways to mutualize upstream, midstream and downstream HIV Prevention activities. Tom’s argument was that HIV Prevention tends to be bogged down by heavy investments in structural and leave out cultural institutional building. This advocacy approach is based on the Vulnerability and Susceptibility Chain (VASC) risks to HIV. Tom points out that HIV Prevention investment put equally in institutions promoting a culture of eradication of HIV is a good return on investment. Communities which lack structural facilities have been peripheralized, yet their cultural force is an asset if HIV is to be eradicated.  Tom has formulated robust empirical methods to generate data which can be used as theory or practice to inform policy on ensuring a culture of HIV Prevention. One approach is to figure out the underlying affective and cognitive dimensions in the male-female relations impacting dignity of womanhood, informing HIV eradication, entrenching environment conservation consciousness and safety at the workplace. The other is movement building. See: @swecunaso

Tom’s strength lies in grasp of Grassroot mobilization with experience from different countries to promote meaningful engagement in HIV eradication. Tom has enabled communities build durable institutions in the Strategic HIV prevention Public Health areas and has promoted the ability to explore the market linkage nature of HIV services. Tom has published articles, abstracts and blogs. Tom is also the Editor-in-chief of Kampala Sexuality Journal. See: @journalKsj

Tom has further gained and refined critical prevention and care skills between 1999- 2019 in USA and Europe. These skills included: Research, Policy pitching;  Care Navigator; Providing venues for confidential HIV counselling, Needle Exchange, community education programs on  SRH, RMNCAH, HIV, STIs, viral Hepatitis, harm reduction and HIV Prevention cultural competency; Iterative Response; Manage the start-up phase, develop, and implement community programming; Link and ascertain Behavioural Health, Mental Health Services and link clients to Prevention and Early Intervention services; HIV Testing and Outreach Peer Services Worker; create competence to manage a battery of HIV service interventions. Provided community-based outreach and HIV testing to high risk populations. Conducted community-based education, outreach, and testing aimed at high risk populations; Promoted prevention information, education, communication on HIV transmission and early timely entry into care for people living with HIV/AIDS; Manage HIV Prevention and PrEP Program; Khat, Alcohol, Tobacco, Opioids and Drug (KATOD) Intervention; Management of Addiction related to Drugs and Opioids Therapies (MADOT) Services; Link beneficiaries to KATOD/MADOT Intervention Services; Empowered beneficiaries to make healthy and responsible choices concerning use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; Introduced sessions exploring No-use and low-risk behaviours while the realities of the negative consequence of high-risk use are addressed; Mentor beneficiaries to link consequences of alcohol use to influence on sexual or use consent; Strategize to reduce Khat, Alcohol, Tobacco, Opioids and Drug (KATOD)-related barriers to academic and social success as part of primary intervention goals; Community Health Worker Training initiatives to empower communities to provide HIV/AIDS prevention education; and awareness campaigns to implement strategies to facilitate behaviour change and reduce stigma associated with HIV. Tom has joined various networks such as European Scientists’ Association, Association of American Academy of Science, American Medical & Public Health Association, American Academy of Cancer Registrars, Global Fund, CIVICUS, HIV Social Justice, Uganda National AIDS Service Organizations (UNASO), Southern, Western, Eastern, Central and Northern Uganda AIDS Service Organizations (SWECENUNASO) and founded Most At Risk Populations’ Society in Uganda (MARPS in Uganda) with 97 member grassroot CBOs.