Empower Through Health (ETH) is an American NGO operating in Eastern Uganda. ETH conducts global health research, operates a rural health center and is building a primary school in Buyende District. It is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States of AmericaIRS. Tax Exempt Organization Search: Empower Through Health (EIN 82-4208158). Internal Revenue Service. Available at: https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/ (search EIN 82-4208158). Accessed 18 September 2025. and a sister organization to Empowerment To Heal Uganda, registered as a NGO in Uganda.

History Founded in 2018 on the belief that all lives hold equal value, ETH seeks to address global disparities in healthcare by improving access to medical services in underserved regions of Uganda. The organization grew out of Yang Jae Lee's work in the Busoga region of Uganda beginning in 2015, including collaborations with Ugandan public health leaders and local partners on early health initiatives.

That same year, ETH opened the Mpunde Health Center in Buyende District, Uganda, which now serves over 10,000 people annually. The organization has also implemented public health education programs reaching approximately 70,000 community members.University of Washington. Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Grand Rounds: Advancing Global Mental Health Stigma, Community Engagement, and Collaborative Care Models in Uganda. UW Medicine / UW Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Available at: https://calendar.washington.edu/sea_uwmedicine-uwpsychiatry/Psychiatry-and-Behavioral-Sciences-Grand-Rounds-Advancing-Global-Mental-Health-Stigma-Community-Engagement-and-Collaborative-Care-Models-in-Uganda/E178307721 (accessed 20 October 2025).

In 2021, ETH expanded into education with the launch of the Global Health Experiential Fellowship (GHEF), a research training program for predoctoral students from Uganda and the United States. The program has trained over 160 alumni as of the end of 2024. ETH is also developing a primary school in Mpunde to invest in long-term community development.

Projects

Healthcare The health center is located in Mpunde, a village in Buyende District. According to Empower Through Health's website, the health center has treated 57,000 patients since it opened. It is registered with the Ugandan Ministry of Health. The facility provides free mental health care and primary medical services, including nutrition programs, deliveries, and community outreach campaigns such as immunization and deworming. In Uganda, mental health care is severely limited, and often only available in urban regions. For Buyende District, a catchment area of over 400,000 people, Mpunde Health Center is the referral center for mental healthcare.

Education

Global Health Experiential Fellowship The Global Health Experiential Fellowship is a predoctoral training in global health research in which American and Ugandan students work together to conduct research in Eastern Uganda. GHEF is co-directed by researchers from Yale University and University of Washington and Ugandan public health practitioners. An evaluation of the program, published in SSM - Mental Health, reviewed the fellowship's outcomes and found that it strengthened cross-cultural collaboration and research capacity between Ugandan and American students.

Mpunde Education Initiative Education in Buyende District faces significant challenges due to pervasive poverty, limited infrastructure, and low school completion rates, which constrain opportunities for children in rural areas. In response, ETH has initiated construction of a primary school in Mpunde to improve access to quality education in the area. The organization also continues providing support to vulnerable students in local primary and secondary schools by supplying learning materials and helping with tuition where feasible.

Research ETH conducts research focused on improving access to physical and mental healthcare in low resource areas. The organization's research efforts have produced multiple peer-reviewed publications. ETH has published on community mental health, stigma reduction, and pathways to care in rural Uganda. Its work has included studies on beliefs about mental illness and suicidality, collaboration among traditional and biomedical providers, and pathways to care for psychosis. ETH has also explored anti-stigma interventions through community-led theater programs, the development of a radio program to destigmatize mental illness, and gender-specific stigma differences.

List of Research Publications +JournalTitlePublishedSSM - Mental HealthMixed-methods evaluation of a Global South-North research fellowship in Uganda: Global health experiential fellowship (GHEF).2025BJPsych OpenBeliefs about the causes and treatment of common mental illnesses and suicidality in rural Uganda.2025Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental HealthPerspectives of traditional healers, faith healers, and biomedical providers about mental illness treatment: qualitative study from rural Uganda.2025Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental HealthPathways to care for psychosis in rural Uganda: Mixed-methods study of individuals with psychosis, family members, and local leaders.2024Journal of Global Health ReportsCommunity perspectives to inform the development of a radio program to destigmatize mental illness in rural Uganda: a qualitative study.2024PLOS Mental HealthDifferences in mental illness stigma by disorder and gender: Population-based vignette randomized experiment in rural Uganda.2024Current PsychologyTwelve-month outcomes of a destigmatizing theatrical intervention in rural Uganda.2024BMC PsychiatryEvaluation of a pilot, community-led mental illness de-stigmatization theater intervention in rural Uganda.2022Emergency Medicine JournalExploring the factors motivating continued Lay First Responder participation in Uganda: a mixed-methods, 3-year follow-up. 2021HeliyonSurvey on the prevalence of dyspepsia and practices of dyspepsia management in rural Eastern Uganda.2019Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and HygieneTreatment-seeking behavior and practices among caregivers of children aged≤ 5 y with presumed malaria in rural Uganda.Yang Jae Lee, Gautam Adusumilli, Rauben Kazungu, Godwin Anywar, Francis Kyakulaga, Esther Katuura, Shanti Parikh, Merlin Willcox, Treatment-seeking behavior and practices among caregivers of children aged ≤5 y with presumed malaria in rural Uganda, Transactions of The Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Volume 113, Issue 9, September 2019, Pages 525–533, https://doi.org/10.1093/trstmh/trz0392019World Journal of SurgeryLay first responder training in eastern Uganda: leveraging transportation infrastructure to build an effective prehospital emergency care training program.2018

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