Dithan Kiragga

Dr. Kiragga is a public health physician with 20+ years of experience in technical leadership and management of complex health programs in developing countries including post conflict nations. His Leadership and expertise includes quality of care service delivery, public-private partnerships for health sector development, accreditation of facilities, and development of standards for public and private sector; health policy and advocacy (within government ministries and stakeholders); domestic resource mobilization; and specific expertise in private sector market systems and development. Currently, as COP for the USAID Regional Health Integration to Enhance Services in the North, Acholi (RHITES-N, Acholi), Dr. Kiragga provides technical and managerial oversight for project implementation across eight districts, as well as leadership for the rollout of USAID’s Quality Improvement collaborative across all regions of Uganda. RHITES-N, Acholi in collaboration with MoH supports comprehensive service delivery and health systems development across eight districts and has been instrumental in the functionalization of the post conflict health systems in northern Uganda. Prior to his work on RHITES-N, Dr. Kiragga was a COP of the USAID/Uganda Private Health Support Program (PHSP) and the Health Initiatives for the Private Sector (HIPS) Project, where he spearheaded service delivery, PPPs and OVC programs across the private sector in 140 Health facilities (PFP/PNFP) and was a member of the private sector technical working group at MOH. Through PHSP, Dr. Kiragga also led the first-ever private sector health sector assessment study, updated Ministry of Health (MOH) referral guidelines, established a Ugandan Labnet (a laboratory franchise), and developed the Self-Regulatory Quality Improvement Standards (SQIS). Through the Development Credit Authority (DCA), over 200 private entities accessed health financing through local banks, and by the end of PHSP, the guarantee with Centenary bank was almost 100% utilized. Under the HIPS project and together with key professionals, established the Uganda Healthcare Federation (UHF), an umbrella group for the private sector in Uganda. Early in his career, Dr. Kiragga managed the rehabilitation of critical health service infrastructure and establishment of functional health systems on World Bank post-conflict projects in East Timor and Rwanda, grounding his understanding of programmatic implementation in fragile settings. From District Director of Health Services to senior-level technical advisory and management positions on four USAID projects, Dr. Kiragga has fostered and maintained collaborative working relationships with USAID, GOU, MOH and its related agencies, international and local implementing partners, and other key stakeholders and has successfully built coalitions to deliver results. A native of Uganda, Dr. Kiragga speaks fluent Luganda, English, and Swahili. Education