Hello and welcome to Patongo Counselling Community Outreach (PCCO). My name is Nyaga
Nighty Agnes and it is my pleasure to serve as the Executive Director of PCCO. I am so pleased
to be here and look forward to working with all of you as we continue the wonderful 11-year
legacy of our organization in its efforts to improve the health and wellbeing of the citizens of
Uganda. Our mission continues to be “striving to empower vulnerable persons/Refugees through
psychosocial support, Livelihood, food and Nutrition security, Health, Education and economic
skills knowledge to enable them build a sustainable resilient community”.
Public health is a vital component of our health care system that touches the lives of all
Ugandans. PCCO strives to provide leadership in communicating the importance of public health
by educating the public, our policy makers, stakeholders and health professionals across the
state. We have a strong and capable Board of Directors who lead the organization as we consider
what we can do to support the work of public health professionals all across the state.
An Institute of Medicine report defined public health as what society must do to keep people
healthy and further defined it as involving the collection of data, assessment of challenges, and
assurance of health protection. They described it as collective action leading to collective impact.
That is what PCCO wishes to do, engage all of us collectively to positively impact the health of
Ugandans.
We need your help in building on the wonderful accomplishments that PCCO has already
achieved in strengthening our infrastructure, developing strong partnerships, supporting the
development of our public health workforce, diversifying and increasing our membership and
advocating for improvements in public health policies and funding. All of that work takes time
and a commitment from those of us who love public health and want to see it grow and be
strengthened in our state.
We invite you to explore our website, support us, talk with our team members and to join us so
that we can provide a larger voice for public health in Uganda and together can make that
collective impact on the health of our people. Whether it is in protecting our communities
through disease surveillance, ensuring a safer environment, promoting healthy lifestyles and
healthy communities or providing education and research, public health is… your first line of
defense.
We hope you will join us and be a part of PCCO’s advocacy, education and public health
leadership efforts in Uganda. We want to hear from YOU!
Nyaga Nighty Agnes
Executive Director, PCCO
