New milestone for UICC and the ATOM Coalition in Uganda

UICC, on behalf of the Access to Oncology Medicine (ATOM) Coalition, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Health of Uganda.  The MoU represents another important step in the Coalition’s efforts to advance equitable access to life-saving cancer care across the low- and lower middle-income countries it supports, following earlier country engagements established with Mongolia, El Salvador and Zambia.

With the signing of the MoU, collaboration with the Ministry of Health and UICC member the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) formally began in February 2026. A visit of the ATOM Coalition secretariat to Uganda marked the start of the next phase of technical work.

A key outcome of the visit was the Ministry of Health’s commitment to move forward under the governance and technical oversight arrangements set out in the MoU. This includes establishing a Multidisciplinary Technical Working Group and a Country Coordination Group, which will be chaired by Dr Jackson Orem, Executive Director of UCI.

In-country coordination of the collaboration will be led by the Coalition’s focal point at the Ananda Centre for Cancer Research (ACCR), a UICC member. Shortly after the signing, ATOM Coalition partner the IDA Foundation met with ACCR and began laying the groundwork for activities under the identified focus areas, illustrating the Coalition’s ability to align partners and coordinate support where priorities intersect.

The visit helped align key national institutions – such as the Central Pathology Lab, the National Regulatory Agency and WHO – around ATOM Coalition activities, including shared approaches to data collection.

With the MoU in place, the ATOM Coalition secretariat and partners will now initiate technical assessments, stakeholder coordination, and preparation for follow-up engagement.