INTRODUCTION:
Children and youth with disabilities experience poorer health outcomes compared to their non disabled peers (1). Young people with disabilities are rarely included in the design and implementation of public health research, yet understanding the experiences of young people with disabilities and their engagement in leading and shaping research is key to developing and ensuring contextually appropriate and effective strategies to improve health and promote participation and inclusion (2,3). The Disability Inclusive Youth (DIY) research programme employs participatory qualitative approaches to identify barriers and facilitators to including children and youth with disabilities in public health research, and co-creates solutions to make public health research in East Africa disability inclusive (4).

METHODS:
In 2025 the DIY research team built the research capacity of 12 youth with disabilities from Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda through an established research training and mentoring programme at the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit (5). In 2026, the trained youth are conducting in-depth interviews, surveys, and transect walks with 75 public health researchers, 30 stakeholders, and 60 children/youth with disabilities and caregivers. Findings will be analysed collaboratively in May–June 2026 through participatory workshops, where youth co-design solutions with researchers and stakeholders.

RESULTS:
Preliminary insights from ongoing data collection highlight key barriers (e.g., accessibility, attitudes, resource constraints) and facilitators (e.g., youth leadership, inclusive training). Full results will be presented at the WCPH 2026 by the corresponding author and a youth researcher with a disability.

CONCLUSIONS:
Disability-inclusive research is needed to advance health equity for persons with disabilities in Africa. This project contributes to capacity building research among young researchers with disabilities, co-creating culturally relevant and inclusive research practices in East Africa.