OUR TEAM

Dr Temo K Waqanivalu

MBBS (Fiji) MPH (Israel) DipFLM (Aus) FFPH (UK)

Dr. Temo K Waqanivalu is a distinguished global health expert with a 30-year career devoted to bolstering public health initiatives and reinforcing healthcare systems worldwide and is the Lead Expert at ActioNCD International. With specific expertise in Noncommunicable Disease Prevention and Control (NCD), he has showcased prowess in strategic leadership, health system strengthening, capacity-building, program management, and fostering international collaborations.  

Dr. Temo kickstarted his career in the Ministry of Health of the Fiji Islands after graduating from the Fiji School of Medicine in 1994 and progressed through clinical and public health roles, culminating in the prestigious position of National Advisor for Noncommunicable Diseases (NCD) before transitioning to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2005. He also held a part-time lecturing position at the Fiji School of Medicine, where he shared his expertise. 

During his 17-year tenure at WHO, Dr. Temo played a pivotal role in shaping global health. Starting as a Technical Officer, he ascended to Coordinator for NCD and Health Promotion in the Pacific, overseeing WHO’s support and providing technical advice across diverse health areas to 22 Pacific Island Countries and territories.  Joining WHO Headquarters in 2014, he led the Diet and Physical Activity team and ultimately became the Unit Head for NCD Integrated Service Delivery, showcasing leadership in navigating complex health environments.

Since July 2023 he founded ActioNCD International to utilize and mobilize expertise to further extend strategic and operational support for countries to achieve their respective NCD and Public Health targets.

Dr Pascal Bovet

FMH, MPH

 Pascal Bovet is board-certified in both internal medicine and public health (FMH, Switzerland) and holds an MPH degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He currently is a senior consultant at the division of chronic diseases at the University Center for Primary Care and Public Health (Unisanté) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Before this, he was the head of the NCD section at the Department of Community Health of the University Medical Center of Lausanne (CHUV) and a professor of public health at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University in Lausanne. He still regularly teaches public health at the University of Lausanne and in other universities. Earlier he was practicing clinical medicine and medical research in various hospitals, including the University Medical Center, and also as chief resident. 

He has been a consultant for NCDs for the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Seychelles since 1988 until now. He led there several population-based NCD surveys and contributed to the development of various policies, including national NCD strategy, tobacco control legislation (including being the representative of the country to all the intergovernmental FCTC negotiations), fiscal measures on tobacco and sugary drinks, and guidelines for the management of hypertension and diabetes at the primary health care level. 

He currently collaborates with several studies and projects related to NCDs, including with the Swiss Development Agency, Swiss TPH, Imperial College (NCD Risk collaboration), Shandong University in China, Harvard University, University of Rochester (NY) and Loyola University in Chicago. He authored or co-authored >400 publications (http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0242-4259). He has been serving as a technical adviser for WHO, Swiss Development Agency and the World Bank around the development or the evaluation of national NCD plans of actions or clinical guidelines in a number of countries. He led, or collaborated with, the organization of several NCD training programs with the Swiss Development Agency, CDC and WHO.

Dr Viliami Puloka

BA MBBS  Dip Derm MPH

 Viliami Puloka’s journey through healthcare leadership commenced in Tonga’s serene Vava’u District before spanning pivotal roles at Nuku’alofa’s Vaiola Hospital. His tenure as Senior Medical Officer and Acting Chief Medical Officer marked the genesis of his ardor for public health.

In 2001, he embraced a role at the Tonga Ministry of Health, spearheading NCD and Health Promotion initiatives. This ignited a fervor that led him to the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in Noumea, where he served as a Physical Activity Adviser before becoming the Head of NCD.

Transitioning to the NZ Health Promotion Forum, Viliami crafted strategies uniting research, policy, and advocacy. His current tenure as a Pacific Advisor at the University of Otago, Wellington, encapsulates his pinnacle. Here, he shapes policies and nurtures future healthcare leaders across the Pacific, imprinting his legacy on holistic public health approaches.

Viliami Puloka’s narrative isn’t just a list of roles held; it’s a tale of dedication and expertise, weaving a tapestry across diverse landscapes. His unwavering spirit, honed by each position, stands as a guiding light, steering the realms of public health toward a healthier future.

Professor Dr Jean-Marie Dangou

MD, Professor of Pathology

 Professor Jean-Marie Dangou is a Senegalese physician, academic, and senior international public health consultant with over 26 years of experience in health systems development and NCD prevention and control. He currently serves as the Acting WHO Representative to Zimbabwe, following an extensive career in the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa. His expertise combines academic rigor with high-level policy leadership, focusing on cancer control, NCD management, and health diplomacy.

Prof. Dangou’s long-standing service at WHO includes multiple leadership positions. Between 2017 and 2023, he coordinated the NCD Management and Prevention Program Areas in Brazzaville, leading regional initiatives to strengthen NCD prevention, surveillance, and care integration. He has also served as Senior International Consultant on leadership and NCD prevention, Regional Adviser for Cancer and Chronic Respiratory Diseases, and Acting WHO Representative in several countries, including Guinea, The Gambia, and Zambia. Before joining WHO, he led Senegal’s National Cancer Control Programme and held academic positions as Associate and Full Professor of Pathology at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar.

Prof. Dangou holds a Doctorate in Medicine from Cheikh Anta Diop University, a Specialization in Histopathology, Cytology, and Cytogenetics from the Free University of Brussels, an Aggregation in Pathology from CAMES in Burkina Faso, and advanced training in Epidemiology and Methods from the University of Bordeaux, France. Fluent in both French and English, he has also completed numerous professional courses in leadership, management, and program evaluation. His expertise in oncology, pathology, NCD program management, and public health leadership has positioned him as one of the leading figures in WHO’s efforts to advance NCD control and health system resilience across Africa.

Dr. Anastasiya Dumcheva

MD, MPH, LL.M

Dr. Anastasiya Dumcheva is a Ukrainian medical doctor, epidemiologist, and public hea  lth specialist with more than two decades of experience in health systems strengthening, noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention, and multisectoral policy development. She currently serves as a Doctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University in Finland, where her PhD work focuses on evaluating the impact of policies to reduce the burden of NCDs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Her research draws inspiration from Finland’s success in reducing cardiovascular mortality and integrates mixed-method approaches to assess policy effectiveness.

Dr. Dumcheva’s career spans senior technical and leadership roles with major international organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, UNFPA, USAID, and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH). Between 2024 and 2025, she served as Senior NCD and Public Health Consultant at Swiss TPH, where she led strategic guidance for NCD initiatives in Ukraine amidst the war and humanitarian crisis.

From 2022 to 2023, she was Technical Director of the USAID-funded Public Health System Recovery and Resilience Activity, Ukraine’s largest public health project, overseeing NCD reduction, vaccine-preventable disease control, and mental health interventions. Her earlier work includes consultancy assignments with WHO in Kosovo and Ukraine, where she helped implement the WHO “Best Buys” and the Package of Essential NCD Interventions (PEN). She previously served as Deputy Head of the WHO Country Office in Ukraine and as National Professional Officer for NCDs and Health Promotion, leading technical support for the Ministry of Health and coordinating intersectoral collaboration.

Dr. Dumcheva holds multiple advanced degrees including a Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA), a Master of Laws from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and medical and epidemiology qualifications from Ukraine. She is fluent in Ukrainian, Russian, and English, and has authored several scientific papers and policy reports, including publications in BMC Public Health and BMC Health Services Research. Her contributions to Ukraine’s NCD agenda earned her the Honorary Award from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in 2019 for outstanding national service.

Dr Emmanuel Mensah

MD, MBA

A dedicated and empathetic internal medicine physician whose professional areas of interest and experience include health equity and disparities, quality improvement and health system design, with a focus on global health and developing countries. He works to contribute to the development of healthcare systems to address the burden of various diseases locally and around the world and hopes to use his position to be a role model and educator for others in the field. Dr. Mensah earned his medical degree and Master of Business Administration from Harvard University’s Medical and Business Schools and studied mathematics and biology at Dartmouth College. He completed his internal medicine residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, MA, where he was recognized with the Jeffrey E. Silver Resident Award.

Prior to joining ChristianaCare, Dr. Mensah held internal medicine appointments at numerous hospitals in the Boston area; he has also served in high-level advisory and directorial positions for the African Union/Africa CDC and the Center for Integration Science in Global Health Equity (WHO Collaborating Center).

Dr. Mensah is a member of the Society for General Internal Medicine and the American College of Physicians. For his outstanding contributions to education, he has been recognized with Harvard Medical School’s 2022 Charles McCabe Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching. He is deeply excited to continue his career at ChristianaCare as an internal medicine physician.

Professor Everold Hosein

BS, MA, PhD

Dr. Everold Hosein, Senior Communication Advisor-Consultant, World Health Organization (WHO), Communication Consultant with UNICEF/UNFPA/UNWOMEN, and Distinguished Scholar, City University of New York/School of Public Health, is an international communication specialist (born in Trinidad and Tobago) with over 45 years of experience in strategic communication, integrated marketing communication, advocacy and public relations, communication for development (C4D), health education, and IEC (information-education-communication), related to social development issues and behavioural impact/behaviour change.  

He is the founder of the strategic communication planning methodology called COMBI – Communication for Behavioural Impact, initiated at New York University in 1994 and adopted and refined at WHO since 2000, and more recently combined with UNICEF’s Communication for Development (C4D) and Social and behaviour Change work. His communication work has focused on the following fields:

nutrition, early childhood education, children‘s welfare and girls education, children and violence, water and sanitation, communicable diseases prevention and control, influenza, environmental education, non-communicable diseases, pandemics, general public health, reproductive health (including maternal/child health, family planning and HIV/AIDS/STD prevention), pharmaceutical policies, gender equality, health promotion, university education, agricultural and rural development, population and development, and banking/monetary policies.  

He has completed over 300 consulting assignments around the world in about 150 countries, from Africa and Asia to the Caribbean, Latin America, Europe, and North America.  Dr. Hosein’s expertise includes integrated marketing communication, public relations, advertising, social mobilisation, health education, public education, public information campaign strategy planning, audience/market research, communication programme reviews/evaluation and new programme development, communication training, audio-visual and print materials production, radio-television-video-print media production and dissemination, media relations, and promotional special events.  

He is a former Director of the University of the West Indies, Institute of Mass Communication. He has worked with, among others, various United Nations agencies including WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UNDP, FAO, UNIDO, UNESCO, the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, Emirates Foundation, Asia Development Bank, USAID, the German Government, Ministry of Health/France, Ministry of the Environment/Singapore, national and international non-governmental organizations, and numerous governments in developing countries. 

Dr Ian Anderson

PhD Economics, MIH 

Dr. Ian Anderson is an Australian economist and international development specialist with over four decades of experience in health economics, development policy, and public sector reform across low- and middle-income countries. His expertise lies in designing, appraising, and evaluating complex development assistance programs, with a strong focus on health financing, noncommunicable disease (NCD) prevention, and evidence-based policy formulation in resource-constrained environments.

He holds a PhD in Health Care Financing from the Australian National University, where his doctoral research examined priority setting and resource allocation challenges in Pacific health systems. Dr. Anderson also holds a Master of International Health (with Distinction) from Curtin University, a Graduate Diploma in Economics of Development from ANU, and a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Sydney. His professional development includes advanced leadership and policy courses at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Anderson has led and contributed to assignments for more than 25 international agencies and governments, including the World Health Organization (WHO),

World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), UNICEF, DFID, USAID, Global Fund, Fred Hollows Foundation, and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).

He is a Research Associate at the Development Policy Centre (ANU) and an Associate with Oxford Policy Management (UK).

Since 2010, Dr. Anderson has undertaken numerous high-level consultancies focused on strengthening health systems, improving health financing efficiency, and advancing policy coherence in global health. His leadership roles include Team Leader for the design and evaluation of national health programs in the Pacific, South Asia, and Africa—most notably the Solomon Islands Health Sector Support Program, Australia’s PNG Incentive Fund, and multiple reviews of pandemic preparedness and NCD strategies in Asia and the Pacific. He has also served as a Technical Review Panel Expert for the Global Fund, specializing in strategic investment and sustainable financing for health systems.

Before entering consultancy, Dr. Anderson held several senior executive roles in the Australian Government’s aid program (AusAID), including Principal Advisor (Designs), Head of the Technical Advisory Group, and Head of Contracts and Consultancy Management, overseeing a $1.7 billion portfolio. He represented Australia in major international financing negotiations, serving as Head of Delegation for the replenishment of the World Bank’s IDA and the Asian Development Bank’s ADF funds, together exceeding $40 billion. He also served as Principal Economist for Health Service Delivery at the Asian Development Bank (2006–2010) and earlier as a Senior Economist at the World Bank in Washington D.C.

Dr. Anderson’s professional footprint spans more than 25 countries across Asia, the Pacific, and Africa, including long-term postings in the Philippines, Manila, Geneva, and Washington D.C. His work has shaped major reforms in public health financing, universal health coverage, and cost-effectiveness analysis for NCD interventions.

He is a prolific author with over 30 publications, including contributions to The Lancet, Health Policy and Planning, Social Science & Medicine, and Asia Pacific Economic Literature. His 2013 World Bank report on “The Economic Costs of Non-communicable Diseases in the Pacific Islands” and his co-authorship of The Lancet’s “Global Investment Framework for Women’s and Children’s Health” have been widely cited.

Dr. Anderson’s work continues to influence global policy dialogue on sustainable health financing, development effectiveness, and evidence-based investment strategies for improving population health outcomes in developing countries.

Ms Lindah Ndunge Mutua

Dip Clinical MBA

 leadership experience, including 5 years in public health programming with the Kenyan government and international organizations. She has a proven track record in emergency and post-conflict settings, as well as managing multi-sectoral programs in health, environment, and counseling.

Since 2016, Lindah has focused on entrepreneurship, overseeing the development of personal investments and managing a small-scale commercial farm. Her public health experience includes serving as a Clinical Officer and Counselor with the International Rescue Committee, delivering healthcare and HIV/TB services in refugee settings.

Lindah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and is completing a Master’s in International Relations. She is proficient in Microsoft Office and multilingual, fluent in English, Kiswahili, and Kamba. Lindah’s diverse background, strategic leadership, and adaptability make her an asset to both humanitarian and business ventures.