# Mulago Hospital begins on Mulago Hill (1913)

URL: https://allhistories.com/uganda/timeline/1913-mulago-hospital-begins-on-mulago-hill
Location: Mulago, Kampala, Uganda
Themes: main-event

Mulago Hospital traces its origin to 1913, when Dr Albert Cook of the Church Missionary Society, founder of Mengo Hospital, set up a small hospital for sexually transmitted diseases on Mulago Hill near Kampala. It began with simple wards and a few African staff. The site was chosen close to Makerere, and later colonial governments expanded it into a general government hospital. After the 1945 riots the Protectorate compulsorily acquired land at Mulago for a larger teaching hospital, linked with the Makerere medical school established in the 1920s and 1930s. A new hospital complex was opened in 1962 as part of independence celebrations. Mulago became the national referral hospital, a centre for the study of Burkitt's lymphoma, cancer and HIV, and today remains Uganda's main public hospital. At the date of this event the principal authority over the largest part of present-day Uganda, by the convention of this dataset, lay with Sir Frederick Jackson, Governor of Uganda (1911 – 1918). Locally, Daudi Chwa II (Kabaka of Buganda, 1897–1939) held authority in the region concerned. Mulago's growth reflects the evolution of medical care and training in Uganda, from missionary clinics to a national teaching and research institution. Generations of East African doctors have trained there, and its research on cancers and infections has earned Uganda international scientific standing.

## Why it matters
It became Uganda's central hospital and a training centre for East African doctors.

Ruler at the Time: [Sir Frederick Jackson](https://allhistories.com/uganda/rulers/sir-frederick-jackson)

## Sources
- [Mulago National Referral Hospital](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulago_National_Referral_Hospital)
- [maids-and-drivers-spark-off-1945-riots--1517682](https://www.monitor.co.ug/uganda/news/national/maids-and-drivers-spark-off-1945-riots--1517682)
- [History of Uganda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Uganda)