Dr. Isabella Epiu is the first female PhD anesthesiologist in East Africa. She is a researcher, an academic, and the founder of Health Solutions International, a healthcare NGO dedicated to addressing the systemic gaps that put lives at risk, beginning with anaesthesia and surgical safety in maternal and neonatal care.
In Uganda and across much of East Africa, women do not die in childbirth due to a lack of strength. They die because they lack access to safe anaesthesia.
After assessing 64 hospitals across Uganda, Epiu uncovered disturbing realities. The number of trained anaesthesia providers was dangerously low, proper surgical protocols were either missing or outdated, and in some cases, a single oxygen machine was shared between patients. Yet, despite these life-threatening disparities, countless women continued to undergo cesarean sections without proper sedation or monitoring.
Isabella Epiu is addressing this. She has collected data on the issue, published several research articles, and advocated for systemic change.
Since 2012, she has researched maternal morbidity and mortality in the East African countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. In 2015, she advanced her fight for proper healthcare by founding Health Solutions International.
Building safety with Health Solutions International
Based in Uganda, Health Solutions International focuses on enhancing quality and safety in healthcare, particularly for mothers and newborns. The organisation’s core mission is to save lives by developing innovative, cost-effective health solutions that address gaps in service delivery.
Its goals are to promote safe surgery and obstetric anaesthesia, strengthen healthcare systems through policy, training, and infrastructure, advance data-driven research, mentor and empower vulnerable groups, especially women, and champion equity in healthcare access, standards, and outcomes.
Isabella Epiu and her team introduced a regional anaesthesia technique that is safer and more affordable for under-resourced hospitals. They also began training local healthcare workers, building clinical capacity, and developing scalable protocols that could operate within limitations. When the tools didn’t exist, they built them from scratch.
Her strategy is based on the truth that healthcare systems won’t change unless the people closest to the problem lead the solution.
The fight for quality healthcare
Isabella Epiu advocates fiercely for policy reforms that support universal healthcare access and safe surgical practices. In hospitals that have implemented her interventions, maternal death rates have decreased, and clinical protocols have notably improved.
With a specialisation in health economics and neuro-respiratory physiology, her work bridges research and impact. She is a scientist who can speak the language of policy and a strategist who remains active on the ground.
Additionally, she advocates for women in science and medicine. As a mentor and role model, she is paving the way for young professionals, particularly girls, to ascend into leadership and research.
Her work has garnered recognition from institutions such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Society of Obstetric Anaesthesia and Perinatology.
