Ekwaro Obuku (born 1978) is a Ugandan physician, researcher, academic, and health‑policy expert. He served as the immediate past president of the Uganda Medical Association (UMA), the professional body representing medical doctors in Uganda. Obuku is also a PhD candidate in health policy at Makerere University College of Health Sciences in collaboration with McMaster University, Canada.
Early life and education
Obuku was born in February 1978 at Victoria Hospital in Kisumu, Kenya, where his family had taken refuge during Idi Amin’s regime in Uganda. He is the son of Teo Kibirige Obuku, a nurse, and the late Dr John Brian Obuku, a physician. After early schooling in Kenya, he returned to Uganda in 1992 and attended St. Mary’s College Kisubi, graduating in 1997. He entered Makerere University in 1998 on a National Council of Sports scholarship, completing a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) in 2003. He later earned a Master of Science in Clinical Trials from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (2009) and is pursuing a PhD in health policy jointly supervised by Makerere University and McMaster University.
Medical career
Following his internship at Arua Regional Referral Hospital, Obuku worked in pediatrics and later at Mungula Health Centre IV in Adjumani District before relocating to Kampala. In Kampala he served as a medical officer at the Uganda Workers’ Treatment Centre, where he contributed to national and global HIV treatment policy development. From 2010 to 2013 he acted as a technical adviser on tuberculosis control for the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Leadership in the Uganda Medical Association
Obuku joined the UMA in 2012, becoming publicity and mobilisation secretary in 2013 and later secretary‑general. On 9 September 2017 he was elected president of the UMA for a two‑year term. During his tenure he advocated for improved working conditions, remuneration, and professional standards for medical doctors, and was involved in negotiations with the Ugandan government and other stakeholders.
Academic and research activities
In addition to his clinical work, Obuku holds teaching positions at Makerere University and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, delivering courses on systematic reviews and evidence synthesis. His research focuses on health‑policy implementation, knowledge translation, and the utilisation of postgraduate dissertations for informing health systems in Uganda. He has published extensively in peer‑reviewed journals and maintains a research profile on platforms such as ResearchGate and Google Scholar.
Personal life
Obuku is married and a father of seven children.
References
- Wikipedia entry “Ekwaro Obuku”.
- McMaster University Health Forum profile, 2019.
- The Independent (Uganda), “Dr Ekwaro Obuku; doctor with purpose”, 5 December 2017.
- The Observer (Uganda), “Obuku, a doctor the state loves to hate”, 20 November 2017.