Etheldreda Nakimuli-Mpungu (born 1974) is a professor, researcher, epidemiologist and psychiatrist at the Department of Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine, Makerere University in Uganda.

[1] Whilst working at Butabika Hospital, Nakimuli-Mpungu noticed a large number of HIV/AIDS patients were being admitted with serious mental health problems.

[2] She undertook her own observations, which confirmed the HIV-positive individuals are more likely to be diagnosed with depression, in part due to the stigma surrounding the disease.

[2] Nakimuli-Mpungu felt that there could be a dual approach to the two diseases, but there was nothing published in scientific literature at the time, which could serve as a basis for implementation of such a treatment.

Since most medical centres in Uganda lack funding, as well as training for and staff to work on mental health care, Nakimuli-Mpungu focussed on the potential of group therapy as a treatment.