collaborate

Conference Chair

Dr. Shital Maru
Senior Lecturer & Chair,Department of Pharmaceutics & Pharmacy Practice
School of Pharmacy, University of Nairobi

Dr. Shital Mahindra Maru (B.Pharm, M.Pharm, MBA, PhD) is a Senior Lecturer and is currently the Chair for the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy Practice at School of Pharmacy, University of Nairobi, Kenya. She is a registered Pharmacist in Kenya and has 17years of teaching experience at the University. Her interests are on Pharmaceutical product development using novel technologies, pediatric formulations, Continuous pharmaceutical production using Quality by Design (QbD) principles, Quality assurance of medicines, Good Manufacturing practices (GMP), Health commodities supply Chain management and operations management.

She was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship for her PhD at the University of Bradford (UK) in 2008. She has supervised over 50 undergraduate and postgraduate students in Pharmacy and currently is supervising PhD students in Industrial Pharmacy and Medicines and Vaccine Supply Chain management at the University. She has published widely in reputable local and international journals. She has participated severally in both Local and International Conferences held on Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. She currently has successful patent applications from research conducted successfully on pharmaceutical product development. She has several collaborations and consultancies with Local Pharmaceutical Industries in Kenya, other partnering Local, regional and International Universities, East African Community (EAC), Ministry of Industrialization in Kenya, Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Kenya, World Bank and UNFPA.

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Margaret Anyetei-Agama
Division Head of Health, Nutrition & Population,Department of Social Affairs
African Union Commission (AUC)

Alfons van Woerkom
Head of Supply Chain
The Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis & Malaria

Alfons is the Head of Supply Chain at the Global Fund in Geneva, he has been seconded from Unilever. He has a strong professional background in consumer good, retail and pharmaceutical supply chain management, with 19 years of experience across Europe, Asia and Africa. He is an expert in the areas of Supply Chain Transformation through people and process leadership, applied across both private-private and public-private sector engagements. He has been with the Global Fund since late 2016 and has been enabling the Perfect Clinic focus, where the measurement of On Shelf Availability of health products & diagnostics at the Health facility are the only true measure of Supply Chain performance. His current focus is on facilitating skill and talent development in supply chain management both at Global Level and in country to deliver high performing, performance based supply chains.

Dr. Isabella Ayagah
Head, Global Health Security of Kenyan Ministry of Health & National Focal Person,Eastern Africa Regional Collaborating Centre (RCC)
Africa CDC - Centres for Disease Control & Prevention

Dr. Isabella Ayagah is currently with the Ministry of Health, Kenya boasting a working experience of 11 years with 9 years in Global Health Affairs and Diplomacy. She has played a key role in influencing the national, regional and global health agenda through bilateral and multilateral engagements on behalf of the Government of Kenya and the East Africa Region. She has been in the frontline of establishment of the Eastern African Regional Collaborating Centre (RCC) of the Africa CDC currently hosted in Nairobi Kenya. She facilitated capacity building in Global Health Diplomacy for health ministers and over 150 senior government officials from the East, Central and Southern Africa- Health Community (ECSA-HC) member states since 2009. Dr. Ayagah was also part of the team that lead the JEE assessment process in Kenya and the development of the country’s National Action Plan for Health Security. She is currently Head of Global Health Security within the Ministry of Health and is also providing technical support to the Eastern Africa RCC.

Dr. Ngoy Nsenga
WHE Programme, Team Lead for East & Southern Africa
World Health Organization (WHO)

Dr. Nsenga has served as Senior Regional Advisor on Emergency Preparedness and Risk Assessment at the World Health Organization (WHO), Regional office for Africa. He is now the Team Lead for East and Southern Africa, Emergency Program of WHO Regional Office for Africa, and is based in Nairobi. Along with his work at the World Health Organization, Dr. Ngoy Nsenga is also pursuing his academic career, completing his PhD in Public Health. His thesis discusses the vulnerability of African countries to cholera outbreaks. Dr. Nsenga has a long experience in disaster risk management in Africa and has contributed to several research projects. His area of interest for research includes Vulnerability and Risk assessment, and predictive models for infectious diseases. He is one of the main developers of the vulnerability and risk assessment tools now used in Africa to assess public health risks in African countries. Dr Nsenga is fluent in French and English.

Paul K. Tanui
Senior Programme Officer - Technical Support,African Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation (AMRH) Programme
AUDA-NEPAD New Partnership for Africa's Development

Paul Tanui is currently Senior Programme Officer – Technical Support for African Medicines Regulatory Harmonisation (AMRH) Programme, a programme coordinated by AUDA-NEPAD. He has held this position in for over seven years. Paul is a pharmacist by profession and holds postgraduate qualifications in Healthcare and Business Management. He has over 20 years of experience mainly in pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulatory affairs, medicines regulatory systems strengthening and quality assurance. Before taking up his current position at AUDA-NEPAD, he worked for the USAID funded Strengthening Pharmaceutical Systems (SPS) Project/Management Sciences for Health (MSH) supporting medicines regulatory activities at Namibia’s Ministry of Health and Social Services (MOHSS)/Namibia Medicines Regulatory Council (NMRC). He has also held other positions as Head Quality Control and Quality Assurance at the Universal Corporation Limited (Kenya) as well as Management positions at health supply chain company Howse & McGeorge Laborex-Eurapharma.

Speakers

Sanjeev Gadhia (Panel Chair)
CEO
Astral Aviation Ltd

Sanjeev S Gadhia is the Founder and CEO of Astral Aviation Ltd which is a dedicated all-cargo airline based in Nairobi, Kenya and operates a fleet of seven cargo aircrafts into Europe and within Africa. Operating one of the most successful airlines in Africa for 20 years, Sanjeev is responsible for the overall management, network planning and fleet acquisition for Astral Aviation, along with its Pan-African expansion strategy, which entails two new cargo hubs in West and Southern Africa, including diversification into Logistics, Airport Infrastructure, Executive Jets and Unmanned Cargo Aircrafts. Sanjeev is rated as a “New Generation Leader for Africa” by the prestigious African Leadership Network, while Astral has been rated as the best all-cargo carrier in Africa in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019.

Albert Nettey
Supply Chain Specialist - System Strengthening
UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)

Albert is a Pharmacist and a Public Health professional with over 12-years’ experience in Health system strengthening focusing on Supply Chain and Logistics Management in emergency as well as recovery context. His current job as the Supply Chain Specialist with UNICEF-ESARO, has offered him the opportunity to work closely with 21 countries in the region to provide a varied level of technical expertise to the country offices and their various Government counterparts to ensure that critical aspects of supply chain are strengthened. Prior to UNICEF, Albert worked as a Supply Chain Consultant with UNDP in South Sudan and later as a Country Director for Systems for Improved Access to Pharmaceuticals and Services (SIAPS) also in South Sudan for 4 years. Albert holds a master’s degree in public health obtained from University of Ghana as well as a four-year degree in Pharmacy obtained from the University of Science and Technology in Ghana.

Remco van den Born
CCO
Avy

With a background in engineering and entrepreneurship, Remco has a passion for introducing impactful and innovative technologies that contribute to a healthier world. As CCO of Avy, he brings together stakeholders from the public, private and non-profit sectors to make last-mile cooled chain deliveries with wing drones possible. Now that reliable technological solutions are available, he’s taken a focus on the regulatory, operational and economical challenges to ensure that drones are sustainably implemented in the supply chain for the transport of medical goods to people in need, in a timely, cost-efficient and reliable manner, to save lives.

James Eason
Cold Chain Advisor
Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA)

James Eason, based in Kenya, serves the Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) as Technical Advisor whilst also serving as President & CEO to Chelsea International Cold Storage and Logistics, LLC based in Florida USA. Mr. Eason has worked on several USAID projects throughout Africa, Central Asia and the Middle East where he has helped train executives in proper management of Cold Supply Chain Management and Operations of cold storage facilities. He holds a B.A. in Supply Chain Management & Accounting from the WFLO Institute for Logistic & Warehouse Management Training in addition to serving as Board Member on various industry boards. Previous roles include Regional General Manager at Atlas Cold Storage & Logistics in the USA, and Senior Vice President of Business Development for Meridian Development Group.

Larysa Engasser
Head of Pharma Division,Reefer Department
CMA CGM

Larysa Engasser has over 15 years of logistic experience. She joined CMA CGM in 2006. After changing various positions within the group in operational and commercial departments she was appointed Key Account Manager for Reefer Pharma cell in 2015. Her mission includes the driving of processes and procedures up to the high-level international standards for transportation of medicinal products in line with WHO and EU GDP regulations, accompanying laboratories to make a smooth move to the sea freight being a cost effective and secured mode of transport. In 2018 Reefer Pharma Cell becomes “Pharma Division” proposing to its customers a large spectrum of GDP compliant solutions including Real-Time Monitoring enabling to preserve product’s integrity during the trip.

Simon Pierre Onana Ottou
Procurement Advisor,Nairobi Branch Office
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) International

Simon Pierre Onana Ottou joined the MSF Spain team in 2015 as Supply Manager. Since 2015 he has worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa Republic and Niger as Supply Manager and Deputy Supply Coordinator. Simon joined the HQ team in January 2018 as Procurement Advisor for MSF Spain global field missions based in their East Africa Regional Office, covering approximately 30 countries including regular missions and giving support to MSF’s Emergency Team.

Dr. Robert Kimbui (Panel Chair)
Senior Supply Chain Manager - Sub Saharan Africa
Johnson & Johnson

Dr. Robert Kimbui is the Senior Supply chain manager, Sub Saharan Africa, Johnson and Johnson, Global Public Health (GPH) program. He is a member of the GPH Supply chain leadership team and supports the implementation of GPH supply chain strategies across sub Saharan Africa. He is a licensed Kenyan pharmacist and supply chain professional. Prior to Johnson and Johnson, Robert was the Supply chain director / Chief pharmacist for Goodlife pharmacy limited, the largest retail pharmacy chain in East Africa and has supported the implementation of public health supply chain processes in his prior roles in Management Sciences for Health (MSH), Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Laborex Kenya ltd. He holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy, Msc. Operations and Supply chain and is currently finalizing a Msc. Health Economics and policy.

Brian Taliesin
Global Director - Living Labs
PATH

Brian Taliesin is the Global Director of PATH’s Living Lab, a human centered design initiative, and PATH-wide data for action practices as part of the Center for Digital and Data Excellence (CoDE). Prior to this role, Mr. Taliesin led digital health implementation services—focused on the development of scalable, sustainable health information and supply chain solutions. Brian helped shape PATH’s approach to business systems analysis that served as a catalyst for early versions of OpenLMIS and associated adaptations for immunization information systems. He is a strong advocate for interoperability and global standards including GS1 and integrating systems with the support of OpenHIE. Mr. Taliesin holds an MSc in Health Informatics and has over 30 years of experience in software design, application development, and implementation, including projects with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, Gavi, other nongovernment organizations, and multinational firms.

Gorgui Sene Diallo
Country Director - Senegal
Africare

Mr. Gorgui S. Diallo serves as Country Director for Senegal at Africare. He possesses more than 20 years of experience in design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation & management of development programs across Health, Agriculture & Food Security, Micro Enterprise & Micro Finance, and good Governance. Gorgui has led the design & implementation of several health projects/programs in malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, Maternal & Child health, and Community Health Policy. He is the Principal innovator of ‘Saving Live At Birth Program’ initiated and implemented by Africare in Senegal, introducing innovative solutions such us mHealth and Predive Model (Maternal Death Risk Assessment Tools) in 14 health Districts. He also plays a key role in various Senegal Strategic committees in addition to representing the Consortium of International NGOs in the UN Food Crisis Committee.

Marseille Onyango
Country Manager Kenya
Janssen Pharmaceuticals

Marseille Onyango is the Country Manager for Johnson and Johnson in Kenya, where he heads the business operations of Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Marseille has worked with many reputable pharmaceutical companies, including Astrazeneca and Novartis. Marseille partners with both private and public sector players to provide healthcare solutions in Kenya. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry from Egerton University and an MBA in Strategic Management from The Catholic University of Eastern Africa. He is currently perusing the 'Total Leader' training with Leadership Management International (LMI), USA. Marseille is passionate about patients’ access to healthcare, pharmaceutical policies and infrastructure.

Mara Nakagawa-Harwood
Head of Implementation & Partnerships
Access Accelerated/IFPMA

Mara Nakagawa-Harwood joined IFPMA in February 2017 as Manager for the global ‘Access Accelerated – Moving NCD Care Forward’ initiative. She has a wealth of international working experience with multistakeholders partnerships across sectors, HIV policy and advocacy and civil society engagement. Prior to joining IFPMA Mara served as Grant Coordinator for a multi-agency initiative with WHO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UN WOMEN and the World Bank, at UNAIDS and as Liaison for the Fast Track Cities Initiative for the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC). Mara served in multiple capacities at the International AIDS Society (IAS), worked as an editor in the UK, as a journalist in Japan and as a trader for export-import companies in Brazil. Mara studied Letters (B.Litt.) at Faculty Ibero-Americana in Brazil and Master of Public Health with specialization in International Public Health (MPH) at University of Liverpool.

Soteri Gatera (Panel Chair)
Chief of Industrialization & Infrastructure Development
UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)

Soteri Gatera is currently the Chief of Industrialization & Infrastructure Development at The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He oversees, coordinates and contributes to the generation of knowledge products in sustainable industrialization and infrastructure for Africa’s structural transformation. Born on September 22, 1959 in Rwanda, he received his M.Sc. in civil engineering from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in 1994 and his MBA in public sector management from Maastricht School of Management (The Netherlands) in 2004. He taught at the current Ardhi University (Tanzania) from 1986 through to 1996 and later became Lutheran World Federation’s (LWF) Technical Advisor in Rwanda from 1997 to 1999. He was appointed Director General of the Highway Administration and the Rwanda Road Fund from 2000 to early 2010. In June 2010, he joined UNECA as a Senior Economic Affairs Officer responsible for infrastructure and natural resources development for UNECA’s Eastern Africa sub-regional office.

Paul Lotay
CEO
Centrale Humanitaire Médico-Pharmaceutique (CHMP-Kenya)

Mr. Paul S. Lotay is a Medical Anthropologist and Public Health Specialist with over 10 years of experience in health systems strengthening, supply chain management and health policy. Mr. Lotay has worked in various organizations at national, regional, and international levels providing technical information to various projects. With extensive knowledge of the pharma trade standards and experience in business management, Mr. Lotay focuses his passion for humanitarian endeavours by tackling supply and quality challenges, thus ensuring universal access to life-saving health commodities. He is currently the CEO of CHMP with the mission to sustain availability of high-quality medicines and essential commodities to global humanitarian programs.

Celine Laukemann
Project Associate | BMZ-Special Initiative ”Training & Job Creation”
GIZ | German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH

For more than 15 years, Céline Laukemann (MSc Economics & Education) enters, develops and grows European companies in Subsahara Africa as well as her passion for the continent. Her Africa-career started in 2003 at the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She ran for many years the Internationalisation department at InterGest Worldwide and had the opportunity to decisively enter and successfully establish many multinationals as well as SMEs in African markets. In 2018 Céline moved into the logistics industry and is currently part of a job partnerships programme in partnership with the GIZ - German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH – a special ‘training and job creation’ initiative, initiated and supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany. The initiative supports the growth and investments of European companies in selected African countries creating training and job opportunities.

Dr. James Mwenda Riungu
Supply Chain Director - Afya Ugavi Activity
USAID Global Health Supply Chain - Procurement & Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) Project

James Riungu serves as the Supply Chain Director of the USAID Global Health Supply Chain – Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project’s Afya Ugavi Activity. He is a healthcare supply chain specialist and registered pharmacist with over 20 years of experience in pharmaceutical supply chain management and coordination of healthcare supply chain operations in sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Riungu has a broad range of experiences in the health sector that includes supporting research in global health supply chain management. Throughout his career, he has provided technical leadership and direction for the development and implementation of innovative strategies to improve health commodity security to the Kenyan Ministry of Health and other stakeholders in Kenya. His supply chain systems strengthening expertise ranges from inventory management, warehouse management, distribution and transport, to LMIS and logistics systems performance monitoring. Dr. Riungu holds a Master’s in Logistics & Supply Chain Management, a Master’s in Business Administration, and a Bachelor’s in Pharmacy.

Dr. Wijdan Khalid M. Elfil
Head of the Directorate General of Planning & Policies
Sudan National Medicines & Poisons Board (NMPB)

Dr. Wijdan Khalid Mohemmed Elfil serves Sudan’s National Medicines and Poisons Board (NMPB) as the Head of the Directorate General of Planning and Polices, having worked within regulatory for 22 years. She holds a Fellowship in Management of Pharmaceutical Services from the Sudanese Medicinal Specialization Board (2010) and a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the University of Nottingham, UK (1996).

Dr. Anastasia Nyalita (Panel Chair)
CEO of Kenya Healthcare Federation (KHF) & President
Kenya Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (KAPI)

Dr. Anastasia Nyalita joined KHF as the CEO in August 2019, having worked in the private sector for over 15 years, in Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, FMCG & Private Hospital Sectors in both commercial & technical operations with a broad geographical experience across Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia. Dr. Nyalita is also the President of the Kenya Association of Pharmaceutical Industry (KAPI), the R&D Pharma Companies Trade Association in Kenya. KAPI is a full and active member of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA), and she represents KAPI in the IFPMA Council as well as in the Africa Engagement Committee. Prior to her appointment as KHF CEO, Anastasia served at the KHF Board, representing Institution Associations. She is a member of the Institute of Directors – Kenya (IOD-K) and has served in several Institutional Boards. Dr. Nyalita holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy Degree (B. Pharm) and a Master of Business Administration degree (MBA) both from the University of Nairobi.

Dr. Njeri Mwaura Gitau
Senior Health Specialist
World Bank Group (WBG)

Dr. Mwaura is an award-winning public health specialist and a Rockefeller fellow on social innovation with over 15 years’ experience in the health sector. She is currently working for the World Bank Group (WBG) as Senior Health Specialist on Health Programs across the East African Region. Prior to joining WBG Dr. Mwaura worked at senior levels with AMREF and Kenya’s Ministry of Health. She has spearheaded and collaborated on multiple high-impact projects with socio-economic impact across the health systems, strengthening framework for example: Health Care Financing supporting institutional reforms of the National Hospital Insurance Fund; Legal and regulatory reforms such as the Kenya Health Act 2017 and a Regulatory framework for strengthening patient safety and quality of care in Kenya; strengthened Public Private Dialogue including policy facilitation for PPPs and private health sector investments based on which Kenya now has a portfolio worth more than $400M in private sector investment.

Dr. Catherine Kanari
Clinical Business Lead
Amref Enterprises Limited (AEL)

Dr. Catherine Kanari holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) from University of Nairobi and Master of Public Health degree from International University of Leeds UK. She has more than 12 years’ experience in the health sector in Kenya; including working in the public, private and NGO sector. Dr. Kanari joined Amref Health Africa within Amref Enterprises Limited (AEL) as the Clinical Lead. Before joining the Amref Enterprises limited, she worked with PS Kenya as the Technical Service Delivery Lead, where she provided technical oversight on various programs covering private sector, research for development and communication for prevention strategies. Her docket currently includes a novel public private partnership flourishing in Makueni in Kenya with various financing models being explores as well as a consortium program integrating non communicable diseases (diabetes hypertension and cancer) in Meru county with an envisaged scale up in Rwanda and Ethiopia.

Phillip Mwangobole
Procurement Officer
UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) (representing UNPD)

Mr. Mwangobole currently holds the position of Procurement Officer in the Procurement Section, Office of Supply Chain Management in UNSOS, Nairobi, Kenya. He joined the UNSOS in 2010. During his time in UNSOS, he has been responsible for procurement of construction services, medical services, lease of properties, transport services, communication and technology services, aviation services, and registration of new vendors among responsibilities. He studied at the University of Zimbabwe and is an active member of CIPS (UK).

Peter Kitunga
Procurement Officer
UN Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) (representing UNPD)

Mr. Kitunga currently holds the position of Procurement officer in the United Nations Support Office for Somalia (UNSOS) Supply Chain - Procurement Section. He joined the UNSOS Procurement Section in 2010. During this time, he has worked as a buyer for different Self Accounting Units (SAUs) namely; Medical, Field Technology, Transport and Life Support Sections. Before joining UNSOS Mr. Kitunga worked for UNICEF in the same capacity. He holds various Supply Chain qualifications including SCOR-P, CIPs among other qualifications. His current duty station is Nairobi.

Dr. Christine Sadia (Panel Chair)
National Chairperson
Kenya Medical Women's Association (KMWA)

Dr. Sadia is a Dental Surgeon and Public Health Expert with a Doctorate in Public Health (focus in Global Health Policy and Advocacy). She recently acquired a higher diploma at the ILO Institute in Turin, Italy on Gender and workplace discrimination for Policy Advocacy. She has had a vast and rich 30-year career working at country, regional and global levels. She has worked with government of Kenya at both the decentralized and national levels and has supported several governments in Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea Rwanda, Sudan, South Africa, Senegal, Lesotho, Uganda, Botswana, Egypt, Mauritius) and internationally. She has effectively and passionately combined her public health and other rich experience address social determinant of health, policy advocacy in health, human rights, gender disparities and sustainable development.

Dr. Jane Masiga
Managing Director
Mission for Essential Drugs & Supplies (MEDS)

Dr. Jane Masiga currently serves the Mission for Essential Drugs & Supplies (MEDS) in Kenya as Managing Director where she is responsible for day to day leadership of operations, implementation of MEDS' strategic plan, upholding best practices, developing a dynamic workforce and sustainable partnerships. Previously Dr. Masiga served MEDS as Head of Operations for 16 years, and as Staff Pharmacist prior to that. Dr. Masiga is also a member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya, and National Technical Working Group for Review of the Kenya Essential Medicines List. She holds a number of degrees including Master in Business Administration (Nairobi, Kenya), Master of Science (Aberdeen, UK), and Bachelor of Pharmacy (Nagpur, India).

Dr. Joseph Muga
Medical Advisor East Africa Hub
Sanofi

Joseph is a medical doctor with experience in critical care medicine, public health, non-communicable diseases and medicines development. He has worked as a primary care physician in both public and private sectors. Joseph currently provides medical advisory and project management services for Sanofi in East Africa (Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania). He also manages nationwide health care practitioners capacity building initiatives as well as patient support programs in Kenya. Joseph also does advocacy for Universal health care as a member of the Kenya Healthcare federation and Kenya Red Cross Society.

Dr. Eugene Odame
Senior Regulatory Pharmacist
Kenya Pharmacy & Poisons Board

Dr. Daniella Munene
Chief Executive Officer
Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK)

Dr. Daniella Munene is a pharmaceutical professional with over 12 years experience in strategic planning, business development, team leadership, and management of key stakeholder relationships in health, currently serving the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK) as CEO. Over the course of her career, Daniella has focused on quality management systems for the health supply chain, as well as organizational regulatory compliance. Armed with a strong passion for equitable health for all, Daniella is involved in policy recommendations and idea mobilization in the pharmaceutical sector, towards attainment of universal health coverage.

Dr. Abena Asante-Quashie (Panel Chair)
Head - Migration Health Assessment Centre
International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Dr. Abena Asante-Quashie is a migration and public health physician with extensive experience in migration health activities for resettlement and family reunification purposes notably in the West and East African sub-regions. She currently serves as the Head, IOM Migration Health Assessment Centre – Nairobi and coordinates immigration medical processing for IOM Kenya. With over 12 years’ experience in migration health management, she is committed to the ideals of positive and orderly migration for the benefit of all. She holds a Bachelor of Medical Sciences (BSc) and a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) from the University of Ghana Medical School, a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Johns Hopkins University, and is a Member/Specialist of the West African College of Physicians and Surgeons - Faculty of Community Health (MWACP).

Veronica Thuku
QA Pharmacist,Logistics Support Centre – Kenya
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Veronica Thuku, currently working as one of the Regional Quality Assurance Pharmacist at ICRC, is a qualified and experienced pharmacist with over 15 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having acquired specialization in strengthening health systems and knowledge in regulatory affairs after her initial pharmacy training. Her speciality revolves around strengthening health systems, especially towards ensuring that the security and quality of health products and health technologies released by the manufacturer, are maintained throughout the distribution system to the end user as much as possible. A lot of her work has enabled the development, implementation, monitoring, evaluating and improvement of a myriad of policies, processes and, procedures amongst various stakeholders within resource limited areas including but not limited to regulators as well as suppliers, within the supply chain.

Venerand Nzigamasabo
Secretary General Asst. in Charge of Emergency Preparedness & Response Operations
Burundi Red Cross National Society

Mr. Venerand Nzigamasabo has served the Red Cross Movement since 2005 as Emergency Preparedness & Response Specialist. He currently holds the position of Secretary General Assistant in charge of Disaster Preparedness & Response Operations, in charge of all humanitarian operations: emergency needs assessment, preparation of the budget of response, providing humanitarian response in terms of food distribution with the World Food Programme (WFP) and non-food items with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and UN International Organisation for Migrations (IOM) and other international NGOs. Mr. Nzigamasabo has contributed to set-up a strong network of volunteers specialised in First Aid and Emergency Needs Assessment as Head of the Disaster Management Department. He also leads the Disaster Risk Management Commission of the National Platform in charge disaster risk reduction, and he is member of the National Mechanism of Early Warning System (Mecanisme National d’Alerte Precoce).

Dr. Maxwell Antwi
Country Director - Ghana
PharmAccess Foundation

Maxwell is a WHO Roster of Experts on Digital Health member. Before joining PharmAccess Group he had worked for over a decade in senior capacities within and outside of the Ghana Health Service as a specialist obstetrician-gynecologist, healthcare manager and a public health professional. Maxwell joined PharmAccess Group in 2012 as a Senior Quality Advisor. He was later appointed as Program Manager for the Medical Credit Fund & SafeCare in Ghana (2013) and then as Country Director (2015). He currently leads a highly motivated team working with partners in Ghana in mobilizing private & public resources to get more money into the health system whiles measuring and improving healthcare quality in Ghana. Maxwell’s ambition is on how digital technology (especially mobile technology) can be a global enabler for forging partnerships, enhancing health regulation, stimulating health financing and the empowerment of individuals to access quality health care to improve health outcomes. The focus of Maxwell’s current work is on aligning stakeholders for digital health innovations, health legislation and implementation of digital health interventions. Maxwell holds four degrees from the University of Ghana.