Florence Baingana, MMed

Dr. Florence Baingana is a psychiatrist and public health specialist who works in mental health policy and planning. She worked for four years as the National Mental Health Coordinator with the Ministry of Health of Uganda (1996-2000), where she established the Mental Health Unit in the Ministry, developed standards and guidelines for mental health care and got mental health included as a component of the Uganda Minimum Health Care Package in the Health Policy and the Health Sector Strategic Plan. She also has a wide portfolio of consulting work, having worked with The Carter Center Mental Health program in Liberia from 2009 to 2014, as well as doing evaluations for UNHCR, TPO Uganda, and BasicNeeds Uganda. From 2007 to 2014, she was a Research Fellow with Makerere University School of Public Health. She has also served as Principal Investigator for the Mental Health Beyond Facilities Project, a Grand Challenges Canada Grant that involved Uganda, Liberia and Nepal.  Dr. Baingana is a member of the Finance Committee of the World Psychiatric Association, is a Member of the Advisory Committee of the Children and War Foundation, Board Chair TPO-Uganda. She is Chairperson of the Association of Psychiatrists of Uganda and has a number of publications to her name. Her major interest areas are evaluation of mental health programmes, and how to strengthen and finance mental health programs in low income countries.