Dr Yvonne Olando

Yvonne Olando, PhD, has over 15 years experience in the substance use prevention and management sector. She is a Clinical Psychologist and an International Certified Addiction Professional -Tx (ICAP IV) and Prevention (ICAP-1). She is a Tobacco Cessation Specialist (CTTS-MAYO, USA), a Global Drug Demand Reduction Trainer (UNODC) and a Global Master Trainer, Universal Treatment Curriculum (Colombo Plan). She is a World Heart Federation Emerging Leaders Fellow. She is the Africa Lead and a Co-Chair- International Strategy area on Deflection and Diversion at Police Treatment and Community Collaborative (PTACC)- which advocates for support for those with behavioral disorders and are in conflict with the criminal justice system, to access support for reintegration.
She is currently the Director- Public Education and Advocacy at the national Campaign against Alcohol and Drug abuse (NACADA) a state corporation under the Ministry of Interior – Kenya. She also sits at the National Youth Council as a Board Member.
She has worked in different roles including being a consultant at the Colombo Plan as an Addictions Expert, and the World Health Organization – AFRO as the Regional Expert on Tobacco Cessation, where she trained primary healthcare providers on integration of cessation strategies to their daily activities as well as monitoring and evaluation of cessation clinics across AFRO. She was an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Psychology, University of Nairobi. She has worked in substance abuse residential rehabilitation centres, outpatient programs and hospital settings.
Dr Olando holds a Doctorate and MSc in Clinical Psychology both from the University of Nairobi and a Bachelors in Social Sciences (Psychology Major) from Moi University. She also holds a Certificate in Global Tobacco Control from John Hopkins School of Public Health (USA), a Diploma in Chemical Dependency from SAPTA and a Diploma in Public Relations from Nairobi Institute of Business Studies.
Some of her achievements for the past 4 years include:
Successful operationalization of the Miritini substance abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Centre (MTRC) in Miritini Mombasa (Inpatient-72 capacity and outpatient 300 capacity) which is a presidential flagship project; Operationalization of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Workplace Committees in more than 350 ministries, departments and agencies that span the whole country; advocated for the piloting of life skills programs (Botvin) in 30 schools in South Rift Region and 9 schools in North Eastern Region, spearheaded the development and launch of the following national policy documents: National Standards for Substance Abuse Management, Code of Practice for Prevention Professionals, National Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention System, National Aftercare Guidelines, Framework for Community Engagement in management of alcohol and drug abuse and the Community based rehabilitation framework for substance use disorders management.
The most interesting latest achievement is the hosting of the National Substance Use prevention week- with a 2 days summit; that is celebrated across the country. This forum brings together about 1,000 stakeholders who run prevention and treatment programs.