For Dr. Moses Kamabare, being named Pharmacist of the Year 2026 is more than an award. It is a recognition of years of professional service, leadership and contribution to a health system where the work of a pharmacist often extends far beyond the pharmacy counter.
The General Manager and Chief Executive Officer of National Medical Stores (NMS) was recognised by the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda (PSU) during the PSU Pharmacy Excellence Awards held at Imperial Royale Hotel, Kampala, on 25 September 2026.
He received the PSU Pharmacist of the Year 2026 – Certificate of Excellence, which recognises a pharmacist whose professional career demonstrates exceptional dedication, integrity, leadership, innovation and excellence in the practice of pharmacy, as well as a measurable contribution to the advancement of Uganda’s pharmaceutical and healthcare sector.
According to the citation on the certificate, Dr. Kamabare was recognised “for demonstrating exceptional dedication, integrity, leadership, innovation, and excellence in the practice of pharmacy.”
A career beyond dispensing medicines
Pharmacy is often associated with the medicines that patients receive at a health facility. However, behind every medicine that reaches a patient is a much wider system involving procurement, storage, quality assurance, inventory management, transportation and last-mile delivery.
It is within this wider space that Dr. Kamabare’s work has been closely connected to the transformation of Uganda’s public health supply chain.
As the leader of NMS, his work has coincided with the organisation’s continued efforts to modernise how medicines and health supplies are ordered, managed and delivered to health facilities across the country.
Under his leadership, NMS has continued to advance the use of technology in medicines management and supply-chain operations, including electronic ordering through NMS+ and digital tools that provide greater visibility of deliveries to health facilities.
These changes have helped move the management of medicines and health supplies from processes that were largely paper-based towards systems that make greater use of digital information, tracking and visibility.
Strengthening the system behind the medicine
The work has also involved strengthening the infrastructure that supports Uganda’s health supply chain.
NMS has continued to strengthen its storage and distribution infrastructure, including the development of the 30,000-pallet-location pharmaceutical warehouse in Kajjansi. These investments are part of the organisation’s broader responsibility to ensure that medicines and health supplies can be received, stored and distributed efficiently to health facilities.
Vaccine logistics has also remained an important part of this work. Since vaccine logistics management was transferred to NMS in 2012, the organisation has worked alongside the Ministry of Health and development partners to strengthen vaccine storage and distribution across the country.
At the same time, NMS has continued to implement measures aimed at improving accountability and medicine security across the supply chain. Last-mile delivery, digital tracking of distribution vehicles and the marking of government medicines with “Government of Uganda – Not for Sale” are among the measures supporting medicine security and accountability.
Recognition from the profession
Dr. Kamabare emerged as the recipient from a field of four nominees in the Pharmacist of the Year category. The other nominees were Dr. David Nahamya, Dr. Jonans Tusiimire and Prof. Patrick Ogwang. The award was presented by Dr. Pamela Achii, President Emeritus of the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda, accompanied by members of the PSU Council and senior members of the Society.
The recognition was part of the PSU’s 2026 Annual CPD and Annual General Meeting held from 24–25 September at Imperial Royale Hotel, Kampala. The activities followed Pharmacy Week, which commenced on 20 September with a Sickle Cell Run held at the PSU Pharmacy House.
Speaking about Dr. Kamabare’s recognition, Pamela Achii, Health Products Management Specialist at the Ministry of Health and Vice President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda, described his approach to work as meticulous and deliberate.
“Dr. Moses Kamabare is very meticulous and takes his work seriously. He is measured and deliberate in the way he approaches his work, and you see that reflected in the way NMS does its work. His work is not small. It requires leadership, and that is the kind of leadership we need to drive some of the things that are needed in our health system.”
More than an individual achievement
Reflecting on the recognition, Dr. Kamabare attributed the achievement to the collective efforts of the NMS team, noting that the organisation’s work is ultimately centred on ensuring that essential medicines reach health facilities when they are needed.
“The strong team has made it possible for us to continue delivering essential medicines in full and on time,” Dr. Kamabare said.
For NMS, the recognition is also a reflection of the changing role of pharmacy in Uganda.
The profession increasingly intersects with technology, logistics, public-sector management, medicine security and health-system strengthening. Ensuring that a medicine is available when and where it is needed requires much more than the medicine itself; it requires a functioning system behind it.
Dr. Kamabare’s recognition as Pharmacist of the Year 2026 provides an opportunity to reflect on that wider responsibility and on the people working behind the scenes to strengthen Uganda’s medicines and health-supply chain.
For the NMS team, it is a moment to celebrate the professional recognition of its leader and the wider work being done to ensure that essential medicines and health supplies continue moving from the warehouse to the health facility, and ultimately to the people they are intended to serve.