Margaret Mungherera

Margaret Mungherera (25 October 1957 – 4 February 2017) was a senior consultant psychiatrist and medical administrator in Uganda. She served as the president of the Uganda Medical Association re-elected five times and ultimately the World Medical Association from October 2013 until October 2014. She advocated for psychiatric services throughout Uganda, beyond the capital, to improve conditions for Uganda's health-care providers and to get doctors organized in African countries in general.

Early life and education Margaret Mungherera was born in Jinja, Uganda. Her father, a retired civil servant, traced his roots to the Butaleja District in the Eastern Region of Uganda. She was one of five siblings, three of whom became medical doctors. In 1977, she was admitted to Makerere University to study human medicine. She graduated in 1982 with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree. After one year of internship at the Mulago National Referral Hospital, she attended the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, where she obtained a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 1984. In 1992, she obtained a Master of Medicine in psychiatry from Makerere University. Her chosen field of concentration was forensic psychiatry.

Career

From 1992 until 2000, she worked as a registrar at the Butabika National Referral Hospital, responsible for forensic services.

In September 2014, she was the keynote speaker at the Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania General Assembly and 50th Council Meeting, Manila, the Philippines.

In June 2015, after 31 years of continuous service, Mungherera retired from civil service, aged 57 .

She died from colorectal cancer in Chennai, India, on 4 February 2017, at the age of 59.