The Kenya NCDI Poverty Commission

Mary Nyamongo

Dr. Mary Amuyunzu-Nyamongo holds a PhD in social Anthropology from Cambridge University in the UK and is currently the Executive Director and co-founder of the AIHD, an organisation based in Nairobi, Kenya that conducts research, training and advocacy on health and development issues. Prior to joining AIHD, Mary worked for the African Population and Research Centre, Population Council and the African Medical and Research Foundation. Mary has provided consultancy services, including the development of a National NCD Strategy, National Social Protection Policy, Poverty Social Impact Analysis, and the Kenya Country Social Analysis. She has published widely in areas of health and development, focusing on NCDs, HIV/AIDS, gender, youth, mothers and children under five, rural and urban poverty, and health promotion in general. She also serves on various international committees/boards, including the World Health Organisation.

Joseph Kibachio

Dr. Kibachio Joseph Muiruri Mwangi is the head of the Division of NCD in the Ministry of Health in Kenya. He is a medical doctor with public health training from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Field Epidemiology training program. He has specialised on NCD programming and policy issues on prevention and control with a keen focus on the integration of NCDs into primary care platforms. He is the lead facilitator for the Kenya WHO STEPwise survey for NCD risk factors and is also the focal person for the Kenya National Public Health Institute that is a coordinating committee for NCDs and public health functions. He is the convener of the inter-sectorial coordinating committee for NCDs and sits in advisory boards on NCD projects at PATH, AMREF and RTI providing insights into government perspectives and the role of public sector in NCD prevention and control. He is an adjunct lecturer of public health at Kenyatta and Moi Universities and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Public Health.

Gladwell Gathecha

Dr Gladwell Gathecha is the head of the Violence and Injury Prevention Unit at the Ministry of Health in Kenya. She is also the focal person for monitoring and evaluation at the Division of Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) at the Ministry. Dr. Gathecha holds a bachelor’s degree in Dental Surgery and a Masters degree in Applied Epidemiology. She has a vast experience in establishing and implementing surveillance systems and conducting research. Her other interests include tobacco control activities and she has undertaken a tobacco control fellowship between 2012-2014. Dr. Gathecha is also an advisory member of the Field Epidemiology Society of Kenya and a student supervisor at Moi University.