TIME TO ACT ON OBESITY

Prof Dr. Amam Mbakwem is a professor of Medicine at the University of Lagos and a consultant cardiologist to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. She completed her residency training in internal medicine and cardiology at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and received a Fellowship of the West African College of Physicians. She underwent further training in cardiology at the Wolfson Heart Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel and Azienda Sanitaria, Tuscany, Italy. Dr Mbakwem’s research interest includes Heart failure, systemic and pulmonary hypertension, heart disease in women, effective communication in disease management and the psychosocial issues in cardiovascular diseases. She is a member of the Nigerian Hypertension society guidelines writing committee. She is the immediate past President of the Nigerian Cardiac Society and a member of the European Society of Cardiology working group on Peripartum cardiomyopathy. She is the treasurer of PASCAR.

Prof Liesl Zühlke, MBChB DCH FCPaeds Cert Card MPH FESC FACC PhD trained as a Paediatric Cardiologist in Cape Town and Dusseldorf, Germany. She has a MPH in clinical research methods, and her doctorate at the University of Cape Town provided new insights on outcomes of symptomatic and asymptomatic Rheumatic Heart Disease.

Prof Zuhlke is widely regarded as an emerging leader in cardiovascular medicine on the African continent. Her major research interests lie in Rheumatic Heart Disease and congenital heart disease. A paediatric cardiologist in the Dept of Pediatric Cardiology at RXH, she worked as the clinical co-coordinator of the ASAP programme, managing several large scale RHD projects in South Africa and on the African continent. In this capacity, she was instrumental in the development, coordination, and management of the largest prospective RHD registry the Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry (the REMEDY study) involving 25 sites, in 12 African countries, Yemen and India and is currently the national leader of the INVICTUS study, which aims to enroll over 30 000 RHD patients.

She has received a number of awards including an academic excellence award from Discovery, NIH Fogarty Fellowship, Wellcome CIDRI and Thrasher awards and the Hamilton Naki Post-doctoral Clinical Scholarship, an award given to clinical scholars of excellence. She is the immediate past president of the pediatric cardiac society of South Africa, President of the South African Heart Association and the chairperson of the Pan African Society of Cardiology Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Task force. She was one of the organizers of the 6th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery 2013, the World Congress of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Health 2016 and is on the organising committee for the World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery in 2017. A previous board member of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa, she is now on the board of the Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research and is co-director of Rheach (Rheumatic Heart Disease-Evidence, Advocacy, Communication and Hope), the recipient of one of the largest grants from Medtronic Philanthropy for work in Rheumatic heart disease. The initiative will be providing scientific and technical support for Global RHD programmes over the next five years.

Dr Francesco Branca is the Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food safety in the World Health Organization, Geneva.

From 2008 to 2019, he was the Director of the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development. During this period, WHO has developed a WHO Nutrition strategy, established a new nutrition guideline development process and has developed a Comprehensive Implementation Plan on Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition with six global targets. He has been leading the preparation of the 2nd International Conference on Nutrition and the Secretariat of the Decade of Action on Nutrition. Before that, in 2005-2008, Dr Branca was the Regional Advisor for Nutrition at the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

Between 1988 and 2005, he has been a Senior Scientist at the Italian Food and Nutrition research Institute where he was leading studies on the effects of food and nutrients on human health at the different stages of the life cycle and on the impact of public health nutrition programmes. He has been President of the Federation of the European Nutrition Societies in 2003-2007.

In 1985-1986, Dr Branca has been a medical staff of a Primary Health Care project in the South of Somalia ran by the Italian NGO, CISP

Dr Branca graduated in Medicine and Surgery and specialized in Diabetology and Metabolic Diseases at the Universita’ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Roma and obtained a Msc and then a PhD in Nutrition at Aberdeen University.

Salim Yusuf, D.Phil, FRCPC, FRSC, O.C., is a Distinguished University Professor of Medicine at McMaster University, and Executive Director of the Population Health Research Institute. He holds a Heart and Stroke Foundation Research Chair, was a Senior Scientist of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (1999-2004), and has received (among others) the Lifetime Research Achievement award of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society, the Paul Wood Silver Medal of the British Cardiac Society, the European Society of Cardiology gold medal, the American Heart Association Clinical Research Award, and over 35 other international and national awards for research, induction into the Royal Society of Canada and Canadian Medical Hall of Fame, and appointment as an Officer of the Order of Canada. He has led over 50 major international studies in over 100 countries and several of these have changed medical practice. He has published over 1000 articles in refereed journals, was the second most cited researcher in the world for 2011, and has the 17^th highest H factor in history.  He is a Past President of the World Heart Federation, where he has initiated the Emerging Leaders program to build capacity for implementation and policy research in all continents of the world, with the aim of halving the CVD burden globally within a generation.

Johanna Ralston has worked in global NCDs and their risk factors for over two decades.  She has served as CEO of World Obesity Federation since 2017, working to elevate obesity on the global agenda and to measurably improve and expand education, advocacy and care. World Obesity is the only global organization working solely in obesity and is in official relations with the World Health Organization. Over the past four years Johanna has overseen the new five year plan in partnership with volunteers, members, staff and key stakeholders.  The plan is built around global targets on obesity and focused on advocacy, convening, education and capacity building, and data and knowledge exchange.   From 2011-2016 Johanna served as CEO of World Heart Federation, the main CVD organization in official relations with WHO and a founder of NCD Alliance.  Johanna’s work included mobilizing the CVD community around the NCD agenda and WHO initiatives including the Global Action Plan on NCDs 2013-2020 and Global HEARTS, as well as a shared strategy to address rheumatic heart disease.  Johanna also served as Vice Chair, steering group member and Interim Director of NCD Alliance during that period, and promoted the expansion of national and regional alliances and the engagement of people living with NCDs.  From 1999 until 2011 Johanna was Vice President of Global Strategies at American Cancer Society, overseeing global advocacy and building the global capacity building program to strengthen community based cancer and tobacco control in LMICs.  She is also a fellow at Geneva Centre for Security Policy, leading the course on global health security. A dual citizen of Sweden and the US, Johanna is an alumna of Harvard Business School and studied public health at Johns Hopkins, after a first degree in literature.   She has served on many committees and boards includingGO2 Foundation (formerly the Lung Cancer Alliance), the WHO Civil Society Working Group on NCDs, the WEF Global Future of Health and Healthcare Council,  the WHO Expert Advisory Panel on Surgical Care, among others.  Johanna has published extensively including journals such as Lancet and British Medical Journal, popular outlets including Huffington Post and The Guardian, chapters in textbooks including the Global Health Handbook, and more personal pieces on her own journey of living with NCDs in Medium and other online platforms.

Dr Shifalika Goenka leads Bioethics and Social and Behavioral Sciences at Indian Insititute of Public Health Delhi, Public Health Foundation of India. A physician from TNMC, BLY Nair Hospital Mumbai, she works to prevent non-communicable diseases through multi-sectoral, multi-disciplinary and multi-level approaches; measure and enhance physical activity through multi-sectoral action, including built environment, worksite health, communities, national indicators for physical activity, environment and health promoting cities, and SDGs. Equipped with a combined epidemiological, medical (clinical) and qualitative research training she is sensitive to the interplay between medicine, built and social environment, as well as the social, economic, and political drivers of health and the environment. She has worked with different stake holders and a wide range of providers and populations and have intensive field experience working at the ground level and with marginalized communities and populations. Her PhD was an ethnography with private general practitioners especially those practicing in marginalized localities in Delhi. She teaches Non-Communicable Diseases and Public Health, Research ethics, Built environment for health, worksite health, Public Health Ethics and Law with high student ratings.  Dr. Goenka leads the Physical Activity program at the Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC) – a WHO Collaborating Centre for Surveillance Capacity Building, & Translational Research in Cardio-metabolic diseases. She was commissioner on the Lancet Obesity Commission. 

Rebone Ntsie is a registered dietitian and she has BSc (Dietetics) from the University of the Western Cape ( UWC) and MSc (Dietetics) from MEDUNSA now Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University. She has worked in government, academia and private sector. She has more than 20 years of working experience in the nutrition field. She is currently the Director of Nutrition at National Department of Health, South Africa. She is passionate about public health nutrition and has interest in nutrition research for the promotion of health and prevention of diseases.  She is currently overseeing the review and update of the Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Obesity in South Africa and the development of the Obesity Social and Behaviour Change Communication strategy. She is also managing the National Dietary Intake Survey which will further inform interventions for the prevention and control of obesity in South Africa. She is leading the annual National Nutrition Week campaign which promotes healthy eating and prevention of all forms of malnutrition. This year 2021, she led the launch of World Obesity Day in South Africa in 2021.  She is a member of the national task team responsible for implementation of the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan which aims to significantly improve food security and reduce malnutrition in all its forms (including overweight and obesity) to afford South Africa’s people opportunities to lead healthy and productive lives.   

Dr. Tolullah Oni, a Public Health Physician and Urban Epidemiologist, is the Principal of the Oni et al. urban health practice and founder of UrbanBetter, a science-informed, equity-centred, Africa-led, youth-privileged movement applying a health foresight approach to generate new knowledge that supports partnership between science, policy and societal role players to health-proof the future of cities. She is a Clinical Senior Research Associate and joint lead of the Global Public Health research group at the University of Cambridge MRC Epidemiology Unit. She is also an Honorary Associate Professor in Public Health at the University of Cape Town where leads the Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity (RICHE) group conducting transdisciplinary urban health research to support development and implementation of healthy public policies in rapidly growing cities in Africa.  Born in Lagos, she completed her medical training at University College London, postgraduate medical training in the UK and Australia, a Masters degree in Public Health (Epidemiology) at the University of Cape Town, and a research doctorate in Clinical Epidemiology at Imperial College London. She serves on several advisory boards including Future Earth and the African Academy of Science Open Research Platform; and is an editorial board member of Lancet Planetary Health, Cities and Health, and the Journal of Urban Health. Profiled in the Lancet (2016), Science magazine (2018), and the British Medical Journal (2019), she is a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, past co-chair of the Global Young Academy, 2015 Next Einstein Forum Fellow, and a 2019 World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.  She is passionate about identifying creative strategies to address complex urban population health challenges in rapidly growing cities globally to make the healthy choice the easy sustainable choice. 

Deborah Chen is the Executive Director of The Heart Foundation of Jamaica with 30 years’ experience in cardiovascular care and extensive experience in the field of tobacco control. She is a visionary and has been the driving force behind the continued growth and success of The Heart Foundation of Jamaica (HFJ). A State Registered Nurse by profession, she has a specialist certificate in coronary care and holds a Master of Public Health Degree from the University of the West Indies. Deborah is a founding member of and has oversight responsibility for the Jamaica Coalition for Tobacco Control which successfully lobbied for the passage of The Public Health (Tobacco Control) Regulations-2013 which became effective on July 15th, 2013. She is also the project director of the current Global Health Advocacy Obesity Prevention Project and a board member of the National NCD Committee in Jamaica and Co-Chair of the Tobacco and Alcohol sub committee.

She is a past Vice President of the World Heart Federation and former board member of the Healthy Caribbean Coalition; and is also a past board member of the Non-Communicable Disease Alliance. She is the current Vice President of the InterAmerican Heart Foundation (IAHF) and Vice Chair of the global NGO tobacco control group – the Framework Convention Alliance. She is passionate about public health and is very concerned about the inequities and injustices in our environment that contribute to the NCD epidemic in Jamaica, regionally and globally.

Ana Larrañaga is a Mexican nutritionist, with studies in Environmental Education, Diabetes and Breastfeeding Counseling. She has worked with Civil Society Organizations since 2013 to promote evidence-based public policy efforts for the prevention of diet related Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). Other areas of her work include the promotion of clear front of pack labels for foods and beverages, the advocacy for sustainable food systems, and the regulation of unhealthy advertisement of ultra-processed foods and beverages aimed to children.

She directed Salud Critica, and coordinated the ContraPeso Coalition fron 2019 to 2021, this is a civil society advocacy platform focused in the prevention of diet related diseases and different forms of malnutrition. She was also a member of the Parlamentary Front Against Hunger in México. Currently she is a member of the NCD Child Young Leaders Program, and a Chevening Scholar studying her Master’s Degree in Food and Development at the University of Sussex in the UK.

Dr Ada Cuevas attended medical school at the Faculty of Medicine of the Catholic University of Chile. Subsequently, she obtained a master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition from the Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology at the University of Chile. In 1992, Dr. Cuevas obtained the Friends of the Center for Human Nutrition scholarship to pursue her postgraduate studies in Nutrition and Metabolism at the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center, in Dallas, Texas USA. Between 1995 and 2003, she was a professor at the Department of Nutrition, Diabetes, and Metabolism at the Catholic University of Chile. Subsequently, she worked in the Nutrition Department of Clínica Las Condes, being the head of this department between 2004 and 2015.

In 2012, she received recognition from the World Obesity Federation (WOF)  as International Fellowship, which is awarded to experts in the obesity area worldwide. Additionally, Dr. Ada Cuevas is currently a member of the SCOPE (Specialist Certification of Obesity Professional Education) International Executive Committee, dedicated to the education and accreditation of health professionals in the management of obesity. Between 2009 and 2015, she served as director of the Committee for America of the International Atherosclerosis Society (IAS), currently working as a Senior Advisory Board member for this Society. She also founded the Chilean Atherosclerosis Working Group, a Chilean affiliate of the IAS. Dr. Cuevas has published numerous national and international scientific articles, as well as book chapters. She is also an associate editor of leading international scientific journals in her field, including the Journal of Lipid Research, the Current Atherosclerosis Report, and Clinical Obesity. Since March 2020, she carries out her clinical and academic work at the Advanced Center for Metabolic Medicine and Nutrition (CAMMYN) and the University Finis Terrae, School of Medicine in Santiago, Chile.

Dr Hennis is Director of the Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization. This Department coordinates activities on non-communicable diseases and related risk factors, nutrition, violence and injuries, road safety, disabilities, and mental health and illicit substance use throughout the Americas. He graduated in Medicine from the University of the West Indies (UWI), and qualified in Internal Medicine in the UK. Dr. Hennis was Wellcome Trust Clinical Epidemiology Fellow and obtained MSc and PhD degrees in Epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London. He has been Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the University of the West Indies, and Research Associate Professor in Preventive Medicine at Stony Brook University, NY. Dr. Hennis has worked to tackle NCDs through clinical practice, teaching, research and publication, working with civil society, and through public health practice.

Arianne Alcorta is a Venezuelan-Spanish award-winning journalist with a strong track record moderating panels, reporting live on-air, and producing news videos and viral web documentaries for television and the web.

Erica Burton, RN, BScN, MPH, GCNC, (she/her) is a Registered Nurse and a Certified Global Nurse Consultant. Holding a position with the International Council of Nurses (ICN) since 2015, she works to develop ICN policy on a wide range of issues including the health workforce, gender equality, NCDs, communicable disease, and climate change and works closely with a variety of stakeholders to provide guidance on nursing and global health challenges. Erica also works in a clinical capacity, providing primary patient-centred care for individuals living and dying with HIV/AIDS in Toronto, Canada. Erica holds a Master’s in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Dr Lilian Mbau is a medical doctor and a public health practitioner. She is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Kenya Cardiac Society (KCS). She holds a Master of Public Health degree from Moi University and a Global Executive Master of Business Administration in Health from United States International University. She furthered her training on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) by attending a specialized training at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene looking at Issues on Global NCD as well as a Postgraduate Diploma in Diabetes from the University of South Wales.

Dr. Mbau has also completed a Global Health Leadership Fellowship program with the Afya Bora Consortium and is an awardee of the Global Scholars Cancer Advocacy grant from the American Cancer Society. She has extensive experience managing large-scale NCD projects in resource-limited settings as well as advocacy for prioritization of NCDs.  Her areas of interests are increasing access to quality and affordable health care for patients with NCDs with a special focus on Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) as well as preventative health.

Dr. Ed Parry-Jones is a General Practitioner (Family Doctor) in Plymouth, in the Southwest of England. He currently works in a local practice and is a Clinical Adviser for the Devon Clinical Commissioning group with a focus on wellbeing and supporting long-term conditions. Ed has also worked overseas in the Caribbean and Africa – Botswana and Tanzania and is involved in Global Health through work with the Royal College of GPs. Most recent projects have been supporting NCD training in Sierra Leone.

Associate Professor Colin Tukuitonga is the inaugural Associate Dean (Pacific) and Associate Professor of Public Health at the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences in the University of Auckland. He is a Public Health Medicine Specialist with extensive experience in leadership, management, public policy, research and public health in New Zealand, the Pacific region and internationally. He was the Director General of the Pacific Community based in New Caledonia for seven years until December 2019. Associate Professor Tukuitonga is on the Ministry of Health’s Technical Advisory Group for COVID-19 and is assisting the Auckland Regional Public Health Service to manage the current outbreak. He is also the New Zealand Heart Foundation Chief Advisor Pacific, government appointee to the NZ Health Quality & Safety Commission board and member of the NZ College of Public Health Medicine Council. He has previously led the NZ Ministry of Pacific Affairs and worked with the World Health Organisation in Geneva, Switzerland. He is a Niuean New Zealander and strong advocate for improving health and wellbeing of Pacific people in the region.

Prof Monika Arora is a public health scientist working in the area of health promotion and health advocacy with focus on NCD prevention and control. She is the Director of the Health Promotion Division and Professor at Public Health Foundation of India. She is also Executive Director of Delhi based NGO: HRIDAY (Health Related Information Dissemination Amongst Youth) in India. HRIDAY serves as the secretariat of Healthy India Alliance (India NCD Alliance). She was Board Member of NCD Alliance (NCDA), Geneva for the period 2019-2021. Currently she is President-Elect of NCDA, Geneva. She is also Chairperson of South East Asia Region, NCDA. Her expertise is in designing, implementing, managing and evaluating intervention programmes in various health promotion settings, large scale group randomized trials as well as qualitative and policy research on NCD prevention and management. Dr. Arora’s approach of translating research to policy and programme action have informed National Health Programmes. She is a member on various national and international expert committees on NCD prevention and control. She has been a member of Ad Hoc Working Group on Implementation, Monitoring and Accountability on Ending Childhood Obesity, formed by WHO Director General during 2014-2016. She was a member of WHO Civil Society Working Group on the third High-level Meeting of the UN General Assembly on NCDs. She was also a Member of Second WHO Civil Society Working Group on NCDs formed by the WHO Director General for the term April 2019-April 2021. Prof. Arora has been honoured with the Best Practices Award in Global Health in 2011 by the prestigious Global Health Council, for demonstrating best practice example in the area of health promotion among youth and community, especially focusing on preventing NCDs. She has been awarded with the WHO Director General’s World No Tobacco Day Award in 2012; Dr. Prem Menon outstanding service award in January 2018 by World-India Diabetes Foundation (WIDF) in recognition of her contributions to the education and prevention of diabetes among children in India and “Exceptional Women of Excellence 2018 Award” by Women Economic Forum (WEF) in April 2018.

Prof Fausto Pinto graduated at Lisbon University Medical School in 1984. He did his Cardiology internship at Santa Maria University Hospital – CHLN, E.P.E. (Lisbon, Portugal), and Stanford University Medical School (CA, USA), where he was a Clinical Fellow. He was then Clinical Attending in the Echocardiography laboratory and underwent an Interventional Cardiology Fellowship at the same institution. He is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon (Lisbon, Portugal), and Full Professor of Cardiology, Head of the Cardiology Department and of the Heart and Vascular Department of Santa Maria University Hospital, CHULN E.P.E., President Elect of the World Heart Federation (WHF) (2019-2020), National Coordinator of the Medical Schools Council (2018-2020) and President of the Executive Board of the Lisbon Academic Medical Centre (CAML) (2019-2021) and Director of Lisbon Cardiovascular Institute (ICVL) since 1999. He was the President and founder of the European Association of Echocardiography (2002-04), a registered branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC), Chairman of the CPC (Congress Program Committee) of ESC (2008-10), Chair of the European Heart Agency (2016-2018) and ESC President (2014-16). He is currently the President Elect of the World Heart Federation (WHF) (2019-2020), and integrates the Board of the European Heart for Children. He is a Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC), American College of Cardiology (FACC), American Society of Angiology (FASA), Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (FSCAI) and the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE) and Honorary Member of several international societies, including Societé Française de Cardiologie, Sociedad Colombiana de Cardiologia, American Society of Echocardiography, Societá Italiana de Ecografia Cardiovascular, Hungarian Society of Cardiology, Japanese Circulation Society, Sociedad Peruana de Cardiologia, Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences, Romanian Society of Cardiology, Russian Society of Cardiology, and Slovakian Society of Cardiology. Appointed by acclamation (29 November 2018) as Honorary Member of the National Academy of Medicine of Brazil. He is the Honorary President of the International Committee for Education and Cooperation of the Italian Society of Medical Science (SISMED).  He was the Editor in Chief of the Portuguese Journal of Cardiology (1999-2015), and is currently Consulting Editor and Member of the Advisory and Editorial of Board of several international peer-reviewed journals, and Expert Reviewer for the European Commission. Prof. Pinto has published over 600 indexed articles and has presented over 1500 lectures/chairmanships at national and mostly international meetings.  His main areas of interest are ischemic heart disease, anticoagulation, cardiovascular imaging, particularly on the use of ultrasound in cardiology and pioneered the use of intravascular ultrasound in the study of graft atherosclerosis.  

Albertino Damasceno MD, PhD, FESC, FISH, is a Full Professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the Eduardo Mondlane University, Mozambique. Previous head of the Cardiology Department of the Maputo Central Hospital between 1984 and 2018, he leads a very productive research unit in the Department of Medicine of the same hospital that publishes more than 15 papers per year. His areas of interests include hypertension and salt sensitivity, heart failure, stroke and cardiovascular epidemiology. He was a member of the steering committees of several landmark studies such as INTERHEART, INTERSTROKE, RELY, THESUS, IMPI, REMEDY, CREOLE. Is Author or Co-Author of more than 200 peer review papers with more than 30 500 citations, a h Index of 55 and a i10-index of 111. He is a member of the Lancet Commission on Hypertension, International Society of Hypertension and its African Regional Advisory Group, South African Heart Association and the Pan African Society of Cardiology and vice president of the Heart Failure task force for Southern Africa. He was one of the trustees of the ASO. He is now a member of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group for Noncommunicable Diseases (STAG-NCD).

Prof. Liesl Zühlke, MBChB DCH FCPaeds Cert Card MPH FESC FACC PhD trained as a Paediatric Cardiologist in Cape Town and Dusseldorf, Germany. She has a MPH in clinical research methods, and her doctorate at the University of Cape Town provided new insights on outcomes of symptomatic and asymptomatic Rheumatic Heart Disease. Prof Zuhlke is widely regarded as an emerging leader in cardiovascular medicine on the African continent. Her major research interests lie in Rheumatic Heart Disease and congenital heart disease. A paediatric cardiologist in the Dept of Pediatric Cardiology at RXH, she worked as the clinical co-coordinator of the ASAP programme, managing several large scale RHD projects in South Africa and on the African continent. In this capacity, she was instrumental in the development, coordination, and management of the largest prospective RHD registry the Rheumatic Heart Disease Registry (the REMEDY study) involving 25 sites, in 12 African countries, Yemen and India and is currently the national leader of the INVICTUS study, which aims to enroll over 30 000 RHD patients. She has received several awards including an academic excellence award from Discovery, NIH Fogarty Fellowship, Wellcome CIDRI and Thrasher awards and the Hamilton Naki Post-doctoral Clinical Scholarship, an award given to clinical scholars of excellence. She is the immediate past president of the pediatric cardiac society of South Africa, President of the South African Heart Association and the chairperson of the Pan African Society of Cardiology Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Task force. She was one of the organizers of the 6th World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery 2013, the World Congress of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Health 2016 and is on the organising committee for the World Congress of Paediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery in 2017. A previous board member of the Heart and Stroke Foundation of South Africa, she is now on the board of the Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Research and is co-director of Rheach (Rheumatic Heart Disease-Evidence, Advocacy, Communication and Hope), the recipient of one of the largest grants from Medtronic Philanthropy for work in Rheumatic heart disease. The initiative will be providing scientific and technical support for Global RHD programmes over the next five years.  

Prof. Dr. Amam Mbakwem is a professor of Medicine at the University of Lagos and a consultant cardiologist to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital. She completed her residency training in internal medicine and cardiology at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and received a Fellowship of the West African College of Physicians. She underwent further training in cardiology at the Wolfson Heart Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel and Azienda Sanitaria, Tuscany, Italy. Dr Mbakwem’s research interest includes Heart failure, systemic and pulmonary hypertension, heart disease in women, effective communication in disease management and the psychosocial issues in cardiovascular diseases. She is a member of the Nigerian Hypertension society guidelines writing committee. She is the immediate past President of the Nigerian Cardiac Society and a member of the European Society of Cardiology working group on Peripartum cardiomyopathy. She is the treasurer of PASCAR.  

A passionate advocate for pro-poor Universal Health Coverage, Dr. Githinji Gitahi joined Amref Health Africa as the Global Chief Executive Officer in June 2015. Amref Health Africa, founded in 1957, is the largest Africa-led international organization, reaching more than 11 million people each year through 150 health-focused projects across 35 countries. Until his appointment to Amref Health Africa, Dr Gitahi was the Vice President and Regional Director for Africa, Smile Train International. Prior to that, Dr Gitahi was Managing Director for Monitor Publications in Uganda as well as General Manager for Marketing and Circulation in East Africa for the Nation Media Group. He held progressively senior positions at GlaxoSmithKline and worked at the Avenue Group. Dr Gitahi is the former Co-Chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee, a global World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO) initiative for Universal Health Coverage (UHC); and has recently been appointed as the Co-Chair Strategic Advocacy Committee PMNCH and a member of the Unilever Sustainability Advisory Council. He serves on several Boards, notably – Board of Directors of The Standard Group in Kenya, Board of Trustees of Safaricom Foundation and Governing Board of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and prevention (Africa CDC). He is also a member of the Commission/Taskforce on Africa’s COVID-19 Response. Dr Gitahi holds a bachelor’s degree in Medicine from the University of Nairobi, a master’s degree in Business Administration from the United States International University, as well as a Certificate for Strategic Perspectives for Nonprofit Management from Harvard University. 

Prof. Gerald Yonga is Visiting Professor of NCD Research to Policy at University of Nairobi. He was Foundation Chair of NCD Alliance Kenya and is currently President of East Africa NCD Alliance and Africa NCD Alliances Network. He was Board member of The Global NCD Alliance 2017 -2021. He is also a member of The WHO-CSO working group on NCDs. Prof Yonga has over 100 publications in high impact peer-reviewed journals in cardiology and NCDs and has trained many NCD healthcare providers at primary and secondary levels of care. 

Mr. Stephen Ogweno is a global health enthusiast, a non-communicable diseases (NCDs) advocate and an author known for his vast work in developing programmes and innovations, aimed at improving NCDs literacy and access to care. As the founder and CEO of Stowelink, he has led the implementation of such programmes in over 8 countries in Africa. In addition to this Ogweno also currently serves as a steering member of the World Health Organization (WHO) NCDs Labs under the thematic area NCDs and the Next Generation where he advices the WHO on strategies of achieving SDG 3.4. Besides that Ogweno also sits in various boards and educates on various global NCD schools including the World Obesity Scope Schools and in the C3 Collaborating for Health ICN Symposiums. Ogweno Stephen is also a published scientific researcher, a keynote speaker, and the author of 4 books with his latest title being Practical Skills for Entrepreneurial Success. Ogweno is an avid reader who loves traveling and enjoys a quiet meditation every morning. Learn more at www.ogwenostephen.com.  

Dr. Alvin Wachira holds an MBChB from Makerere University, is a fellow of the college of physicians of South Africa and holds a PG diploma in Diabetes. Dr. Wachira works as a consultant physician In Machakos level 5 hospital and is one of the heads of the diabetes centre of excellence in the same hospital. He has a special interest in preventive management of CVD and especially diabetes remission using Intensive lifestyle management.  

Mr. Konzolo Edward Ligondo is a Bachelor of Education (BED) Degree holder from Moi University in 1992. I taught in several schools up to 2012 when I was caught up with stroke and retired on medical grounds. I was taken as the secretary of the association in 2015. Through my time as a secretary, I have been a champion when it comes to matters stroke. I have been able even to present People Living with Non-Communicable Diseases (PLWNCDs) on United Nations High Level Meetings (UNHLM) in New York in September 2018, apart from representing stroke fraternity and NCDs in general in local for a to discuss how web can fight this scourge of NCDs.

Mr Reuben Magoko Carlo is an elderly married man with three grown-up children and a grandfather of 11 children. I am the founder member of Kenya Defeat Diabetes Association (KDDA) and a dedicated church leader, in Presbyterian Church of East Africa, formerly P.C.E.A. Mt. Kenya Region Health Committee Treasurer, Kieni West Presbyterian Health Committee Chairman, P.C.E.A Mweiga Parish Health Committee Chairman and lastly P.C.E.A. Mwiyogo Parish Health Committee Chairman. I was at one time a Dissemination Officer of Kenya Red Cross Society Nyeri Branch and Chairman of KRC Kieni West Subbranch. I am also the founder and chairperson of Nyeri County Diabetes Support Groups. I was a National Executive Committee member (NEC) of Ford People Party holding a position of National Organizing Secretary. Currently I am the National Chairman of Kenya Defeat Diabetes Association and KDDA Projects Focal Person. I am a Kenyan and a very proud person living with diabetes. My main objective is to transform diabetes patients making them people living with diabetes in partnership with other stakeholders. United We Can. 

Dr Catherine Karekezi, a pharmacist by profession with PhD specialisation in Medicinal Chemistry, holds key positions in the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) arena as: Executive Director and previously Technical Advisor NCD Alliance Kenya, Member of Board and Research Committee East African Non-communicable Diseases Alliance and a founder Director of Kenya Diabetes Management and Information Centre. She also serves as a Member of the NCD Child Task Force on Essential Medicines and previously as a Member of Steering Group Community of Practice (CoP) for the Meaningful Involvement of People Living with NCDs hosted by the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism on the prevention and control of NCDs (WHO GCM/NCDs). Dr Karekezi has previous experience in academia and research at: Rhodes University (South Africa), University of Nairobi, USIU Africa and Kenya Medical Research Institute. She contributes to NCD prevention, access to treatment and care, health systems strengthening, research, advocacy, and policy development in the region. 

I am a Governance, Health and Social Justice advocate and a Patient for Patient Champion having been a victim of a medical error and suffering from a range of chronic diseases. I am a holder of a Bachelor of Arts Public Administration and a Master of Arts Development Studies obtained from the University of East Anglia, UK. I have over 34 years Public Sector experience having served in various Ministries including the Ministry of Health and Population where I successfully steered the multi-development partner Sector Wide Approach (SWAP) and Human Resources for Health programme as part of the Malawi Health system strengthening. I retired from the Office of the Ombudsman Having served for 11 years in September 2019 as Chief Executive Officer. I am a Board Member of the International Alliance for Patients Organizations, IAPO, UK with effect from 1st August 2018, Founder Board Member for Geneva-based Patient for Patient Safety Observatory since October 2020 and Advisory Board member for University of York Thanzi La Onse (TLO)-Health for All Africa Program since August 2021. In my work, I collaborate with International Bodies such as the International Alliance of Patients Organizations (IAPO) UK where I am a Board Member representing the Africa Region 2018, WHO Patient for Patient Safety Champion, World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA), WHO Patient for Patient Safety Network, and the African Liver Patient Association (ALPA). I am a Founder Board member for IAPO Geneva Based Patient for Patient Safety Observatory with effect from 2020. Armed with my medical error experience, work experience in the Ministry of Health as well as having seen what patients, some of them are my Relations and kinsmen most of them illiterate and feel disempowered go through in the Public Health system because of lack of awareness of Their patient rights and a deeply rooted culture of complaining in silence. Patient organizations in Malawi struggle to coordinate their efforts hence no harmonized voice to advocate on issues of concern encountered in the health system. I am therefore involved in the work which attempts to speak up for the patients who suffer from the health Challenges they encounter as they seek the services throughout the Country. I am also involved in patient and community empowerment and Awareness activities so that vulnerable communities are aware of their rights, enjoy their rights and welfare to the maximum as well as hold the duty bearers accountable without any fear of repercussions. I lobby and advocate for the implementation of more humane, equitable, passionate Patient-centered health and social service delivery, and ensure that Malawi has a robust vibrant Patient movement that is informing health Policy and practice. This, I collaborate closely with the Ministry of Health, District Councils, District Health authorities and various non-state actors. Malawi does not have universal health insurance hence making the Attainment of UHC a challenge. My passion and strong belief in NOTHING FOR US WITHOUT US drives Me to soldier on this noble task despite the resource challenges. 

Prof Ali Ibrahim Toure. After Baccalauréat at National HIGH SCHOOL. I attended Medical SCHOOL for general medicine in Dakar (Senegal‎). Residency in Dakar medical SCHOOL and in Montpellier medical SCHOOL. And Bordeaux medical teaching school. Consultant CARDIOLOGIST teaching hospital of LAMORDE NIGER. Assistant Professor medical school in NIGER. Graduation of Maître de Conference Agrégé in Paris 1990.  

• 1990-1992: Training in New England Institute of EPIDEMIOLOGY in Boston (USA). DIRECTOR of Teaching Hospital of LAMORDE until 1994. Elected Dean 1994 of the faculty of Medical Sciences (Medical school) of Niamey (Niger capital city). Chairman of Cardiovascular Department and Internal Medicine department. 
• 1996: Full Professor in Cardiology of CAMES (Conférence Africaine Malgache pour l’enseignement Supérieur (High Commission for High education of African French Speaking countries). Special medical ADVISOR of Minister of Health and President of Niger republic from 2000 to 2010. Associate Member of FRENCH Cardiac society. FESC, AHA/ASA Professional Membership. President of Niger cardiac Society. Vice President of Pan African Society of Cardiology. Member of CAMES JURY for HIGH Education board in Medicine and member of the high commission of medical education quality committee in the CAMES states (19states).  
• Field of Interest: HIGH BLOOD pressure, Rheumatic Heart Diseases, Congenital Heart diseases, Ischemic Heart diseases, Heart failure. Quality Assurance in Medical Education and Health Care Board for African French speaking countries (CAMES). (19states) 
• ‎Distinctions: Knight of National Academic Palms (Niger); Knight of International Academic Palms of CAMES (African French Speaking High council of Universities); High Officer of National Merit of Niger Republic; Knight of Honor Legion (Légion d’honneur France); Knight of Malta Order 

Prof. Augustine Odili is a Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine in the department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Abuja, and Consultant Cardiologist University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada, Abuja. He was formerly the Deputy Dean Faculty of Clinical Sciences and Pioneer Director of Research and Innovation Directorate. He currently serves in the University Research Council, the apex research governing body of University. Augustine graduated from the prestigious College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus with a distinction in Medical Physiology. He had his postgraduate training at the Jos University Teaching Hospital under the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria from where he graduated in 2006 with two awards viz:- the Best Part II and the Best Overall Candidate in Internal Medicine. In addition, he holds a Ph.D in Cardiovascular Epidemiology from the University of Leuven, Belgium. He won various scholarships through which he acquired further training in Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Epidemiology. These include the Royal College of Physicians Visiting Fellowship to St. Thomas Hospital, London, the Coimbra Group Scholarship for Young African Scholars to University of Leuven, Belgium; International Fellowship on Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention at Hydrabad, India and the World Heart Federation Salim Yusuf Emerging Leaders Fellowship at Cape town South Africa. In 2016, he won the Wellcome Trust UK Seed Award in Science. Augustine’s research interest is focused on hypertension epidemiology and understanding the circulatory system dysfunction in diabetes mellitus. He is the principal investigator of various research projects including: REMAH (REmoving the MAsk on Hypertension), NIPREGH (Nigerian Population Research on Environment Gene and Health), HERALD (Heart of an African Living with Diabetes) and NSS (Nigerian Salt Survey). He established the Circulatory Health Research Laboratory (CHRL) at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital for training and research in cardiovascular health. The research agenda of CHRL spans from basic through clinical science to epidemiology and implementation science with an overarching goal of creating solutions to problems challenging the human circulatory system. Augustine initiated the Community Action Against Non-Communicable Diseases (COMAAND); a community-based intervention project set to address the epidemic of non-communicable diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. COMAAND project is currently being piloted In conjunction with the Society for Public Health and Social Development (SPHSD) and the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET) in three communities of Anambra state, Nigeria. He is a member of the editorial board of Journal of Hypertension, Journal of Clinical Hypertension, and the Nigerian Journal of Cardiology (NJC). He is a reviewer for Hypertension, Blood Pressure Monitoring, Blood Pressure, Journal of Hypertension and BMC Cardiovascular Disorders. He is currently the Secretary General of Nigerian Cardiac Society, Vice President of the Nigerian Hypertension Society and President Society for Public Health and Social Development. He is the chair of the International Society of Hypertension African Regional Advisory Group. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the European Society of Cardiology, and the Nigerian Cardiac Society.  

Mr. Johnpaul Omollo is a public health professional and a health Policy analysist with vast experience in health systems strengthening and health policy advocacy. He has extensive expertise in health policy formulation, monitoring and evaluation, health systems strengthening and program management. Currently he is the Health Research and development officer at PATH. Before joining PATH, Mr Omollo was the National Coordinator of the Health NGOs Network (HENNET). Before that, He served as the Health Systems Strengthening Officer at LVCT health, and The Quality Control and Quality Assurance officer in an influenza effectiveness study at the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Mr Omollo was a member of the Universal Health Coverage, Health Benefits Advisory Panel (UHC-HBAP), a team charged with the responsibility of designing an affordable, responsive health benefits package for the delivery of Universal Health Coverage in Kenya. He also serves as a member of the African Medicines Regulatory Harmonization partnership platform. He previously served in the global Gavi CSOs steering committee and the global financing facility civil society steering committee. He holds a Master’s in Public Health.  

Dr. Bernard Gitura is Consultant Physician & Cardiologist, department of Cardiology Kenyatta National Hospital, President Kenya Cardiac Society, Chair the Research Committee, Cardiology Department, KNH. Spend a lot of my time doing clinical work and Research. I am the National Leader and a Principal investigator for the INVICTUS Study an International multicentre Clinical Study in RHD. I am the Principal investigator for Kenyatta Hospital in the National Heart Registry Study. I have played a leading role in the KCS World Heart Federation funded Kenya National Cardiovascular Guidelines dissemination project.  

Dr. Zipporah Ali is the current chair of the Non-Communicable Disease Alliance of Kenya (NCDAK). She is a palliative care physician and advocate. She is also a Public Health Specialist. She served as the Executive Director of Kenya Hospices and Palliative Care Association (KEHPCA) for 15 years. She sits on the Kenya Network of Cancer organization (KENCO), Alzheimer/Dementia-Kenya, Public Health and Palliative Care International (PHPCI), and the City Cancer Challenge boards. She is passionate about the empowerment of Civil Societies, Patient Lead organizations, Persons Living with NCDs and Persons Living with Palliative Care Needs. She has been instrumental in palliative care advocacy in Kenya and beyond and has advocated for palliative care to be fully integrated into the Kenya Health System. She has also been involved in advocacy for Universal Health Cover (UHC) and believes every person in Kenya should have access to quality health care services, from prevention to palliation. She has received a number of awards in recognition of her work nationally and globally. These include:

Doctor of Law Honoris Causa-University of Dundee (2018)

International Humanitarian Award-Women4Africa (2018)

Social Impact Award for the Sub-Saharan Africa region-British Council (2018)

Honorary Doctor of the University by Oxford Brookes University (2012)

Individual Advocacy Award by the African Palliative Care Association and Open Society Foundations (2013)

African Palliative Care Award –(In recognition for being on the interim board and later serving on the board for 2 teams) -2007.