London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Uganda’s evolving approach to integrating HIV care into chronic disease care has been featured in a recent article published by The Lancet HIV, highlighting lessons emerging from research conducted in Uganda and Tanzania during a period of major health system transition by MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit.

The feature draws extensively on the Integrated community-based versus integrated facility-based care for people living with HIV, diabetes or hypertension (INTE-COMM) study led by Professor Moffat Nyirenda, Director of the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, and Professor Shabbar Jaffar, Director of  the Institute of Global Health at University College London. The study explored integrated community and facility-based care models for HIV, diabetes, and hypertension in Uganda and Tanzania.

The article comes at a critical moment following recent disruptions in global HIV funding, which accelerated Uganda’s transition towards integrating HIV services into broader healthcare systems. While integrated care has long been discussed as a pathway towards more equitable and coordinated service delivery, the feature highlights how funding pressures and workforce constraints are forcing countries to rethink how HIV and chronic disease services are delivered and sustained.

Drawing on lessons from the INTE-COMM study, the article explores how community-based integrated care models may offer opportunities to improve efficiency, continuity of care, and access, especially for people living with multiple chronic conditions. At the same time, it highlights the practical realities of implementation, including workforce preparedness, health system capacity, stigma, and the need for meaningful community engagement during periods of rapid transition.

Speaking in the feature, Professor Nyirenda notes that while integrated care presents important opportunities, implementation must be informed by evidence, careful planning, and lessons emerging from ongoing research and practice.

As countries increasingly rethink how HIV and chronic disease services are delivered in the face of funding and workforce pressures, experiences emerging from Uganda and Tanzania are contributing to broader discussions on integrated care and the future sustainability of long-term disease management in Africa.

Read the original Lancet HIV feature: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanhiv/article/PIIS2352-3018(26)00113-X/abstract