NAT 200207 GLOBAL NCD ALLIANCE Ms. Zoleka Mandela, a Panellist at the Opening Plenary-1581073657380
Nelson Mandela's granddaughter Zoleka Image Credit: Supplied

Sharjah: Zoleka Mandela, the granddaughter of the late South African President Nelson Mandela, will be one of 40 high profile speakers at the third Global NCD (Non-Communicable Diseases) Alliance Forum, which runs from February 9-11 at the Al Jawaher Reception and Convention Centre in Sharjah. The forum is hosted and organised by Friends of Cancer Patients (FOCP) in partnership with the NCD Alliance (NCDA).

FOCP will welcome more than 400 healthcare experts, policymakers, specialists and other key stakeholders from 80 countries across six continents, who will participate in four plenary sessions and 18 workshops in a bid to transform global commitments on NCDs into action.

NAT 200207 GLOBAL NCD ALLIANCE General Image-1581073648060
Previous forum attendees, this will be the third year Sharjah hosts the event Image Credit: Supplied

Other speakers include; Sir Trevor Hassell President, Healthy Caribbean Coalition, and Board Member, NCD Alliance, Barbados; Abdul Rahman Mohammad Al Owais, Minister of Health and Prevention, UAE; Dr. Apoorva Gomber, Community Manager/Co-founder, Diabetes India Youth in Action, and Member of Young Leaders in Diabetes, International Diabetes Federation; Grace Gatera, Communications Coordinator, Partners in Health Rwanda/Inshuti; and Mu Buzima; Young Leader, My Mind Our Humanity, The Lancet Commission on Global Mental Health and Sustainable Development.

Other eminent experts addressing the event include Kwanele Asante, Secretary General, African Organization for Research and Training in Cancer (AORTIC), and Global Advisory Committee Member, Our Views, Our Voices, NCD Alliance, South Africa; Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, International AIDS Society President-Elect, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Malaya, Malaysia; Dr Douglas Webb, Team Leader, Health and Innovative Financing at the HIV, Health and Development Group, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), USA; and Brenda Killen, Member of the Independent Accountability Panel for Every Woman, Every Child, Every Adolescent (IAP), and Director of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Secretariat, Switzerland.

The four plenary sessions will host 18 workshops in total, in alignment with NCDA’s goals of fulfilling the commitments on NDC prevention and control. The Forum will conclude with a closing ceremony at 4:15 pm on February 11.