Olya Klymenko

Since recovering from TB in 2016, Olya has dedicated her life to changing the way TB patients are treated in Ukraine, and ensuring that everyone seeking treatment is aware of their rights. In 2018, Olya was one of the founders of TBPeopleUkraine – a charitable organisation dedicated to uniting the efforts of TB survivors, affected communities, and all those fighting TB in Ukraine. With support from the Global Fund, TBPeopleUkraine has increased its regional representation and expanded its overall impact across the country.

Maka Gogia

Maka Gogia is a programme director of HIV prevention/harm reduction program in Georgia.  She has higher medical education and master’s degree in public health. Besides the programme management, she is a technical advisor, trainer and consultant of HIV/HCV community organisations in Georgia.  During the last twelve years she is engaged in advocating better accessibility to HIV, HCV, TB and STI treatment and prevention services for key affected population. She is the Vice-Chair of the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) Board of Directors, steering committee member of European Testing Week, focal point of Correlation Network, Global Fund EECA constituency member and member of the Regional Collaborating Committee on Accelerated Response to Tuberculosis, HIV and Viral Hepatitis (RCC-THV) at the World Health Organization.

Aisuluu Bolotbayeva

Helle Aagaard

Helle Aagaard currently serves as Deputy Director at ReAct – Action on Antibiotic Resistance (Europe), where she is responsible for policy analysis and advocacy on antibiotic R&D and sustainable access to effective antibiotics. Helle has more than 10 years of experience working in the global health policy field, including 6 years in Brussels working for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Access Campaign and as a political advisor in the European Parliament. Helle is originally a trained journalist from the Danish School of Journalism and has a European master degree in Human Rights and Democratisation from the Global Campus on Human Rights in Venice, Italy.

Anton Basenko

Based in Brussels now, but formerly from Kyiv, Ukraine. Master’s degree in international economy. Globally known activist of the community of people who use drugs and OST patients, people living with HIV and lived experience with HCV. Since 2010 started his work in HIV and TB-service, Harm Reduction and advocacy field in local and national NGOs in Ukraine. Since 2013 worked for international Alliance for Public Health, coordinating international and national projects of HIV, TB, viral hepatitis prevention and treatment among key populations as well as advising on Communities, Rights and Gender issues. Author of different articles, guidelines and publications for communities and professionals. Founder of PUD.UA. Board member of INPUD and EKPC (a-ka EKHN). Member of the Communities Delegation of the Global Fund Board and CCM of Ukraine. Since 2021 he is a Programme Manager on Quality of Life in EATG team.

Stephen Watiti

Dr. Stephen Watiti was born on the 11th of May 1953 in Mbale Uganda. Stephen   studied medicine at Makerere University Kampala from 1979-1984 and from 1984-1988, he worked at Rubaga Hospital as medical officer; before moving into private medical practice from 1988-2004.  From 2004- 2013, he worked at Mildmay Uganda, an HIV treatment centre.  With hind sight, Stephen thinks he got infected with HIV in 1986, early in his career as a doctor. Since 2000, he has been on ARVs after going down with TB, cancer and cryptococcal meningitis in 1999. His quality of life greatly improved while on ARVs and he believes that HIV though incurable is manageable if treatment is accompanied with psycho-social support. Stephen loves, gardening, reading and writing and from 2006, he has been writing a column for The New Vision newspaper, titled: “Towards Zero”. He has also authored two books: “HIV and AIDS: 100 Commonly asked questions”, and “Conquering HIV and AIDS: My personal experience of living with HIV”. Dr. Watiti is a regular inspirational speaker on health, especially HIV and AIDS. The parliament of Uganda, Action Aid International, Tearfund UK, the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA), TASO Uganda and several other organisations have recognized him for his efforts in fighting HIV/AIDS and the related stigma. Dr. Watiti is the chairman of the Board of Directors for Mbale Regional referral hospital, Board Chair NAFOPHANU the national forum of PLHIV networks in Uganda and, Board member for MJAP, the Makerere Joint AIDS program. He is passionate about stopping new HIV infections and AIDS related deaths plus eliminating HIV associated stigma. Stephen is married to Naomi and they have grown up children.

Jacqueline Wambui

Jacqueline Wambui is the Global CAB Facilitator at the Afrocab Treatment Access Partnership. Jacqueline’s educational background is in HIV counselling and training. She is an HIV-positive treatment and prevention activist who has a special interest in the rights of HIV-positive people and AGYW and advocating on their behalf. She has more than 10 years of experience actively working in programs focused on HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights in Kenya. Her work experience has seen her take the lead in various advocacy campaigns that affect people living with HIV, and AGYW in Kenya, regionally and globally. She also co-led the FASTER Pediatric and Adolescent CAB. Jacqueline is also a consultant with AVAC and is a member of the ECHO Trial Global Community Advisory Group- GCAG and the ANTICOV and IMPOWER CAG.

Jacqueline is the winner of the AIDS 2020 Women, Girls and HIV Investigator’s Prize.

Wim Vandevelde

Wim is the Liaison Officer at the Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+) in South Africa, supporting the Communities Delegation to the Unitaid Board. For over two decades Wim has been committed to HIV, hepatitis, and TB treatment advocacy, education, and research. Shortly after his HIV diagnosis, he became actively involved in treatment advocacy in Portugal and at European and global levels. He is the founder of the Portuguese Treatment Activist Group (GAT), the former chair and co-founder of the Global TB CAB and has served on the Medicines Patent Pool’s Expert Advisory Group and Scientific Advisory Panel as a Community representative since its creation.

Siripong Srichau

Siripong Srichau is a campaign officer for APCOM. Currently, he is working on the “Meeting Targets and Maintaining Epidemic Control (EpiC)” project, which is supported by fhi360. He is responsible for two programs: the Regional Operation Plan (ROP) and the Regional Collaboration Fund (RCF).

Both programmes have the same objective, which is to attain and maintain HIV epidemic control among KPs (MSM, MSW, TGW, and TGSW), Regional Operation Plan will focus more on online outreach with its platform “testBKK.org” which has various online channels including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, YouTube, and website with 160,000 followers and subscribers, it can expand the scope of messaging and service promotion through online platforms as well. testBKK’s online campaign utilizes a strategy that has been proven effective and cost-effective in generating testing uptake with testBKK’s clinic partners – which contributed approximately 20% of EpiC Thailand’s online-to-offline case finding in the previous fiscal year.

Regional Collaboration Funds is the program that transfers and adapts Thailand’s lessons learned and technical capacities to other key focus countries in the region, with a focus on Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, and the Philippines, to accelerate the implementation and impact of epidemic control. This programme also conducts regional online learning and advocacy webinars based on community needs and emerging issues related to ending AIDS by 2030, such as PrEP, HIVST, PEPFAR ROP/COP, Chemsex, Monkeypox, and community-led monitoring. In addition, this program convenes a regional meeting in Bangkok to fast-track the region’s progression of its objective.

Ani Herna Sari

Ani Herna Sari is an MDR-TB survivor and is also TB Sensitive. Her experience with TB has made her determined to dedicate her time and energy to participate in advocacy for TB control locally and internationally.

She joined a TB survivor group, and also helped establish a local survivor’s organization Rekat Peduli Indonesia. Under her leadership Rekat became the first TB Survivor organization in Indonesia that could access international grants. Currently Rekat receive a grant Challenge Facility from Stop TB Partnership Global. At the global level, Ani is also Global Tuberculosis Community Advisory Board (TB CAB) Member.

Ani also dedicated her career to supporting a stronger TB response in her home country of Indonesia, as well as across the Asia-Pacific region, and particularly working with TB Women – a global network of women in all their diversity who aim to drive a gender transformative TB response.

Ani is part of the new initiative to advance gender responsive TB initiatives for and by women in all their diversity, called TB Women, showing her commitment at all levels of the TB response. She is also GFAN Speaker.

Bettina Ryll

Yvette Raphael

Yvette Raphael is currently the Executive Director of Advocates for the Prevention of HIV in Africa. She serves on the Board of Trustees of MTV Base Staying Alive. In 2018 she founded #Pozie clothing brand which she runs with her daughter Yisha. Yvette Alta Raphael is a consummate leader in the fight against HIV. As a woman who has been living with the virus for over 19 years, she has experienced firsthand what HIV stigma, insufficient prevention education, and reduced access to healthcare can do. She utilized her natural leadership abilities to co-found the Tshwaranang Care Center for People Living with HIV & AIDS (PLWHA). Ms. Raphael has spoken around the globe including several International AIDS Conferences to advise researchers, advocates, and policy makers on how to best win the war against HIV and AIDS.

Her passion has been to improve the health outcomes for young women and girls, but her trusted expertise has also been lent to developing policies at the work place and to create better, more efficient structures to utilize the available governmental resources to End AIDS.

Furthermore, Ms. Raphael is a trusted globally renowned advocate on effective and efficient education to the community regarding new and developing research for medications that treat and/or prevent HIV. Yvette is featured in the 2018/2019 exhibition at Smithsonian Museum titled out breaks (those who survive, those left behind). She is Also a member of many Global Community Accountatabilty Groups to hold research accountable

Peter Ngo’la Owiti

Peter Ngo’la Owiti is the executive director and founder of a community based organization in Kenya formed in the year 2000 to advocate for prevention of HIV and TB, diseases that claimed 13 members of his family. He has over 20 years’ experience working with communities on Tuberculosis and HIV and AIDS at the youth friendly facility in Wote town where the youth and community at large get none intrusive HIV and TB services including Covid 19 information. He is a global advocate for access to quality healthcare services as human rights interventions. He has a Master’s degree in Agriculture and policy development and is on a doctorate degree program in public health (Community Health)

He has expertise in community health systems and participatory methodologies having worked in rural area for many years as an implementer of Global Fund Round, Stop TB Partnership funds, Amref Health Africa, Geneva Global Inc. among others. He is a reviewer of abstract at the international Union against TB and Lung diseases and co-author of “Environmental health challenges of the 21st century” and reviewer of “The deadly divide, Realities versus Targets on the ULNM declaration on TB. He is a reviewer of abstracts at the International Union against TB and Lung Diseases and two times member of the Union Community Advisory Panel (UCAP)

At National level he is a member of the think tank of Network of TB Champions in Kenya and member Global Fund TB Constituency. Globally, serves on the country preparedness, vaccine and diagnostics working group, ACT-A principals  group and represents community at ACT-A facilitation council. He is also a member of the ACT-A Global Covid Community Board (GCCB). He is also a member of Stop TB Partnership  affected community delegation and an executive board member, the treasurer TB Proof of South Africa -a health care workers organization fighting TB.

Gertrude Nakigudde

Gertrude Nakigudde defeated breast cancer 21 years ago, a co-founder and a Chief Executive Officer of the Uganda Women’s Cancer Support Organisation (UWOCASO).

Gertrude has been developing cancer advocacy and awareness campaigns for the last 20 years. She participated in developing Uganda Breast Health Care guidelines supported by University of Washington and participated in several working groups including  Breast Health Global Initiatives(BHGI), European School of Oncology(ESO)’ Advanced Breast Cancer(ABC)  Consensus all   working to improve survival of breast cancer patients. Gertrude is a member of the Board of Directors of Uganda Cancer Institute. Prior to this, Gertrude participated and graduated  in scientist–survivor programs run by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) a program that jumpstarted her advocacy and  devotion to create a better understanding of cancer in Uganda and make cancer treatment affordable, timely and of high quality for all cancer patients. Gertrude holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Makerere University, a diploma in Business Administration from Uganda college of Commerce and a certificate in Leadership in Strategic Communication.

Nombeko Mpongo

Nombeko Mpongo is an HIV and AIDS activist and an advocate for change. She holds 2 honours degrees in both Counselling Psychology and Social Behavioural studies. Nombeko has been involved in HIV/AIDS field since 1995 as a peer educator in High school. She currently leads Community Engagement for Desmond Tutu Health Foundation in Emavundleni Clinical Research Site. As the Community Liaison Administrator, Nombeko works and supports different stakeholders and presents HIV care, treatment, and prevention strategies in global, national, and local platforms. She has recently joined UPCSA (United Presbyterian Church) Southern African Health and Wellness desk as advisor to the General Secretary and the team.

Salomé Meyer

Salomé Meyer has been directing the Cancer Alliances’ Access to Medicine Campaign focussing on equitable and affordable access for high cost cancer medicines in South Africa. As a member of the Fix the Patent Law Campaign the focus on patent law reform is supported by the detailed report Exploring Patent Barriers to Cancer Treatment Access in South Africa: 24 Medicine Case studies.  Under her leadership the Cancer Alliance published two dedicated reports that identified the specific access and affordability issues in both the public and private sectors. The seminal report Cost of Cancer is now used as a basis for dedicated focus on solution based collaborations with a variety of stakeholders including government, industry and private sector.  Her work has allowed access to essential medicines such as trastuzumab and lenalidomide for the majority of patients that access the public sector which constitutes 84% of the population. The use of Competition Law is another example of how the various access issues are addressed. In 2022 she initiated a policy research project in 2022 focussing on a legal framework for cancer care access from a human rights perspective which will lead the Cancer Alliance’s advocacy strategy for the future. Salomé holds a masters in Social Work from the University of Cape Town and worked in community development before entering the cancer advocacy space in 1998. She has an illustrious track record of 25 years as an advisor, advocate and activist. Salomé is a member of the NGO delegation of UNITAID for cervical cancer and also serves on the Women’s Empowerment Cancer Advocacy Network for Africa (We Can). She served on the WHO Global Breast Cancer Initiative Technical Working Group. She has participated in many international forums promoting equitable cancer care access.

Loyce Maturu

Loyce Maturu is a young woman living with HIV, she is an experienced primary healthcare advocate with a special focus on HIV and mental health. Over the years, Loyce has been recognized at the national and global level for her extraordinary commitment to improving the needs, health, and hope of paediatrics, and young people living with HIV through influencing policy, strategies, and guidelines. Her recent work can be traced through her engagement in various platforms, as a certified member of the Ministry of Health and Child Care National Validation committee for dual EMTCT of HIV and Syphilis in Zimbabwe. A member of the WHO Advisory Group of Women Living with HIV. She has influenced the writing process of the WHO SRHR Toolkit for women living with HIV. She is a mentor for the Global Fund Advocates Network Speakers Bureau (GFAN) where her role is mentoring and building the capacity of the speakers to solidify messages to fund the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Loyce has been a pioneer and led in full force the advocacy movement within Zvandiri, where she is currently employed. She was also one of the voices behind the Zvandiri Radio program through ZiFM as the co-Host, which was funded by UNICEF. In 2017- 2020 she led and coordinated the successful implementation of the Zvandiri Cluster Randomised Trial Study in Shamva District –Zimbabwe, which measured the effectiveness of peer-led interventions.

Mridula Kapil

Mridula Kapil Bhargava, a public health professional and alumna of Hadassah Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. She has a work experience of over 10 years in the healthcare and development sector and works as a public health consultant with multiple organisations in the field of Non-Communicable Diseases. Her proposal for a patient advocacy platform has been recently incubated at IIM Bangalore, one of the top business schools in Asia and the world and is well known for her innovative ideas and strategies in Healthcare interventions.

Mridula is also the founder of Diabetes Fighters’ Trust, a not-for-profit focused upon prevention as well as better management of Diabetes in urban and rural India using the concept of community ownership. She is passionate to help people with Diabetes better manage their condition by empowering them with the essential tools according to their individual as well as population needs. She herself has had type-1 Diabetes for past 30 years and strongly believes that her personal as well as professional experience can extensively contribute towards Diabetes education, policy-making and patient empowerment.

She is currently the fellow of WomenLift Health India, first cohort of Global Health Leaders and has also been selected as the #dedoc° voice 2023.

Kenneth Kabagambe

Kenneth is a World Bank scholar 2022-2023 studying Master in Public Health International at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom. He is the Founding Executive Director of the National Organization for People Living with Hepatitis B (NOPLHB) the only patient driven Non-Governmental Organization advocating for the rights of Hepatitis B patients in Uganda. He is also the Founder of the Africa Hepatitis Initiative (AHI). He is also a member of the Hepatitis Technical Working Committee of the Ministry of Health, Past Executive Board Member for the African Region at the World Hepatitis Alliance. Kenneth sits on several international committees and boards for several international organizations like The Hepatitis Fund, Global Community Advisory Board for Hepatitis B Foundation and others. Kenneth was one of the judges during the WHO Hepatitis testing contest that emerged into the Hepatitis B and C testing guidelines.

He organized the African Hepatitis Summit 2019 held in Kampala that brought over 600 regional and global leaders working on viral hepatitis for a high-level meeting that led to the Egyptian support towards the treatment of hepatitis C patients in Sub Saharan Africa. Kenneth engages stakeholders at all levels from ministries of health to everyday persons from communities. His experience has offered him an opportunity to understand how a disease such as hepatitis affects persons and communities.

Kenneth can identify issues of concern and effectively bring these issues to the table for policy, program planning and communications. His understanding of the complexity of issues faced by patients in his previous position has guided his ability to simplify complex concepts so that they are readily understood in oral and written messages by persons in all stages of society.  Kenneth’s leadership of the special initiatives has set him apart as one who values service above self. Kenneth is the face of hepatitis patient advocacy not only in Uganda but also in Africa. He comes with over 10 years’ experience in patient advocacy, policy and systems strengthening.

Bahati Thomas Haule

Bahati Thomas Haule is a Tanzanian young woman with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. She is a passionate and dedicated individual who strives toward the development and betterment of people living with HIV/AIDS, Adolescents Girls, and Young Women (AGYW) and all marginalized groups in her country and at a global level at large through advocacy, research, policy, and programmatic works.

She is dedicated to ensuring equity, gender equality, human rights, sexual and reproductive rights, and responsible HIV/AIDS accountability in her country and internationally as well.

Her experience ranges from being a Commissioner at the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) which coordinates the national HIV & AIDS response and advises the Prime Minister’s Office on HIV policy matters where she still serves, a program coordinator at Dignity and Wellbeing of Women living with HIV in Tanzania (DWWT), a project officer in the National Council of People living with HIV and AIDS (NACOPHA) in Tanzania under their UNICEF’s projects, a community lead in AFROCAB’s AHD program in Tanzania and a young leader in IAS22 cohort.

She also has advisory roles experiences as a board member in ATHENA network, a community advisory member in the EFFECTS trials taking place in Tanzania and an Independent Advisory member in NIHR’s IMPRINT group.

She’s part of the PEPFAR’s COP and global fund processes in her country and has various community engagement and associations at regional and global levels.

Apoorva Gomber

Dr. Apoorva Gomber is a physician from India interested in global health centered around pediatric diabetes, health equity, disease epidemiology, and improving access to care in low- and middle-income countries. She graduated with a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) in the Department of Global Health and Population from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She now works as Associate Director of Advocacy at the Center for Integration Science, Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Gomber has worked on various advocacy initiatives with global organizations to improve access to insulin and understanding of childhood diabetes. Her research interests focus on overcoming health disparities in diabetes care globally and looking for solutions to complex problems using evidence-based data and cross-sectoral collaborations. She also serves as one of the WHO Technical Advisory Group of Experts on Diabetes to further WHO’s leadership and coordination role in promoting and monitoring global action against diabetes.

Apoorva served as the South East Asia Regional Representative-elect from 2017-2019 for the Young Leaders in Diabetes Program by International Diabetes Federation and the Young Leadership Program at NCD Child.

Apoorva advocates for overcoming stigma among people with diabetes and preventing diabetes-related complications. Outside of research and advocacy, she spends her time traveling, hiking, and running marathons.

Louis Da Gama

Louis Da Gama serves as Board Director for the Princess of Africa Foundation South Africa and Humanitarian Adviser to South African Musician and celebrity Yvonne Chaka Chaka. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director for Global Health Advocates France. He has campaigned globally, regionally, at country and community levels for greater financial and human resources to fight malaria and TB. His work focuses on advocacy for policy change and effective implementation, transparency, good governance, and accountability. He facilitated the setting up of the Malaria Foundation International European Office in 1998. In 2003, he was seconded to the Massive Effort Campaign, the predecessor to Global Health Advocates, working on advocacy for AIDS, TB, malaria, and maternal, child and newborn health and nutrition. He also works on advocacy in support of the Global Fund since 2002 and Unitaid since 2006.  He is a member of the Communities Delegation on the Global Fund and Unitaid Boards.

Cindra Feuer

Cindra is a Senior Program Manager at AVAC: Global Advocacy for HIV Prevention. She co-manages its various advocacy programs in the US, Europe and Africa. She sits on the steering committees of IRMA (International Rectal Microbicide Advocates) and the Wits RHI Key Populations Programme. Cindra held staff positions at US-based POZ and HIV Plus magazines and has been published in various journals throughout southern and eastern Africa. She also worked with groups including the Lesbian Avengers and Sex Panic!, a sexual activism group dedicated to pro-queer, pro-sex worker and anti-racist campaigns for sexual freedom in the age of HIV and AIDS.

Christine Fallabel

Christine Fallabel has been working in the diabetes and public health space for over a decade to improve health insurance and access to care and lower the cost of prescription drugs in the United States for people with chronic diseases. Additionally, she is a health and science activist and writer who has been featured in Diabetes Daily Grind, Insulin Nation, Diabetics Doing Things, and is a regular contributor to Diabetes Strong, Beyond Type 1, diaTribe, and Healthline. She earned her Master of Public Health from Temple University and received her bachelor of arts degree from The University of Delaware. She serves on the board of directors for Connected in Motion. She has lived with type 1 diabetes for 23 years and resides in Denver, Colorado, with her husband.

Denise Uzoma Ejoh

Denise Ejoh (Ph.D) is the CEO of Cormode cancer Foundation, an NGO founded following the death of her mother Margaret Ann Ejoh and who now lives with cancer. Denise was diagnosed with breast cancer metastasising in the brain. She has undergone three brain surgeries and had gamma knife surgery (using radiology) to remove seven tumours and undergone different treatment regimens to shrink four to five more tumours using chemotherapy. She is in active treatment following her last brain surgery in March 2022, when she was informed the cancer was still active and is now on a new drug regime.

Denise completed a Ph.D. in Education specialising in Leadership, Policy and Change in 2020 and was awarded the Social Change Award for her drive in cancer education against all the odds. Her NGO was registered in 2020 focusing primarily on education through cancer awareness advocacy.

Denise hosts a program on AIT called Kakaaki Cancer Awareness and Cancer with Dr Denise Ejoh on Plus TV Africa, and Arise which provides a range of stakeholders the platform to discuss the challenges faced by cancer patients, family, friends, medics, and support groups on how to navigate through the different stages.

She continues to be a been a patient advocate as a guest speaker on various TV and Radio programmes in Nigeria, USA and the UK including articles in local and international forums to include the ThisDay newspaper.

Denise is working with various groups to collate and develop material in various Nigerian languages to support the illiterate communities across Nigeria and the global. She has returned to writing academic papers and is writing a book on her lived experience. She has a YouTube channel that houses over 80 awareness videos for your perusal.

Javier Hourcade Bellocq

Javier Hourcade Bellocq has been academically trained as a social communicator, journalist and science communicator. In 1988 he started working in HIV activism after his diagnosis as a person living with HIV. He later specialises in activism and treatment literacy. He has worked for the last 35 years in NGOs in Argentina, where he lives, and promoted community networks in Latin America and also worked at International NGOs with global coverage. He is editor of Corresponsales Clave and Coordinator of the HIV 2025 Platform. He has served on the governing boards of UNAIDS, Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+) and currently in the board of the Global Fund and UHC2030. He was a member of WHO and PAHO technical advisory committees on HIV, TB, Hepatitis and STIs.

Aly Bancroft

Aly, diagnosed with type one diabetes before her fourth birthday, is passionate about expanding access to healthcare. She has led diabetes camps in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, and the United States, and worked on projects to increase global access to diabetes care and insulin. She worked at Public Citizen, campaigning for policies to make COVID vaccines available to all. Aly is also involved with Universities Allied for Essential Medicines and works for a global advocacy organisation focusing on HIV.

Kwanele Asante

Kwanele Asante is the Former Chairperson of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Cancer Prevention and Control, Republic South Africa. She serves on the World Health Organisation’s Civil Society Working Group on Non-Communicable Diseases. Kwanele has received several awards for her African cancer equity activism, including the Harvard Global Health Catalyst – 2016 African Ambassador Award. She serves as a community representative on the South African Medical Council’s Bioethics Advisory Panel and she is a member of the External Advisory Board of the STARS Program at Harvard Medical School, USA.

Asante has a B. A. Liberal Arts (Psychology-Sociology major) degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, USA. and LLB and MSc Medicine: Bioethics and Health Law degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

Mercy Annapoorani

Founder of the Blossom Trust, Mercy Annapoorani has been working for 30 years with marginalised populations in various fields such as women’s empowerment, children’s rights and sustainable agriculture. Mercy’s commitment is particularly strong in the field of health and access to care. Patients suffering from diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis or diabetes are people for whom she acts and wishes to change mentalities and actions. Her commitment to public health issues has materialised in several organisations such as UNITED, Act-A Pillar, Global Fund, GCTA and India CCM. She therefore combines essential field experience with the desire to take a message to a larger scale.

Danjuma Kamlen Adda

Danjuma is a Hepatitis B patient, advocate and a voice for poor populations. He was infected with Hep B while in clinical rotations and then lost his own mother to the disease several years later. He has a background in microbiology, and an MPH, with over 15 years-experience in public health and advocacy.

Danjuma in 2021 assumed the role of President, World Hepatitis Alliance (WHA), UK. His local charity in Nigeria also works in the area of HIV/AIDS prevention and care, patient safety and antimicrobial resistance and stewardship in Nigeria, working to raise awareness and health care worker’s education to reduce the burden of antimicrobial resistance in Nigeria.

Danjuma is a Senior Fellow with ASPEN Institute, US; Technical Advisor/Member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic and Advisory Committee on HIV, Viral Hepatitis and STIs (STAC-HHS); Executive Board Member Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE) at the Global Task Force for Hepatitis US CDC; Member AMR Advisory Group of the AMR Patient Alliance; and member of several global networking groups and an accomplished Public Speaker.

Danjuma is a leading voice for Hepatitis patients in Nigeria and uses his platform to advocate for the most vulnerable populations across Africa. Danjuma wants to change the narrative about Hepatitis and raise awareness about the deadliness of the disease, while also promoting other health outcomes such as antimicrobial stewardship and patient safety.

Charles Clift

Charles Clift, Vice-Chair of the MPP, was one of three founding members of the Medicines Patent Pool. In this capacity, he shepherded the foundation through the successful completion of its Unitaid-approved five-year project plan and renewed plan with a broader mandate. Charles has held a wide range of roles during his career as an economist with the United Kingdom’s (UK) Department for International Development (DFID). He worked as an intellectual property expert at UK Commission on Intellectual Property Rights and at the World Health Organization Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, Innovation and Public Health.

Sigrun Møgedal

Dr. Sigrun Møgedal guided the MPP during its period of expansion into tuberculosis and hepatitis C and oversaw the reform of the foundation’s governance and operational systems. She is a medical doctor and former Special Adviser to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, former Ambassador for HIV/AIDS for Norway, and former Chair of the Board for the Global Health Workforce Alliance at the World Health Organization. Sigrun also served as a senior advisor to the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) and was awarded the status of Knight First Class in the Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav.