1st Edition: The Harm Reduction Exchange

Dr. Tendai Mhizha

Dr. Tendai Mhizha brings 25 years of leadership experience and knowledge of pan-African strategy, general management, marketing, branding and market research.

As a true explorer of the world, she has degrees – including a PhD in Business Science from the University of Derby in the United Kingdom and a Master’s Degree in Strategic Management – from six countries.

Dr. Mhizha is an author, public speaker and lecturer in Strategy, Brand Engagement and Leadership Coaching. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Business Studies. She is the author of the only sub- Saharan African Living Standard Measure (LSM) tool currently used globally.

She has worked for the Edgars Group, Wella and WPP Plc. She has also led a 25-year-old pan-African market research agency, Research Bureau International. She is the Founder and Chief Inspirer of Integra Africa, which offers unique TRRibe programmes (Talent Retention and Return) through internal brand engagement and strategic solutions with Africa at heart. She is a knowledge empowered teaching at Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Dr. Kgosi Letlape

Dr. Kgosi Letlape, an ophthalmologist from South Africa, is the former president of the Health Professions Council and chairman of the Medical and Dental Board of South Africa. He is the current President of the Africa Medical Association and the Association of Medical Councils of Africa.

He is also the past chairman of the South African Medical Association (SAMA) board and past President of the World Medical Association (WMA), the global physician representative body. Dr Letlape is a consultant for PMI on harm reduction matters.

He was admitted as a fellow at the College of Surgeons of South Africa in April 1988 and as a fellow at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh for ophthalmology in May 1988. He is the first black African to qualify as an ophthalmologist in Southfield, South Africa, and the first to become President of the WMA. He is the former executive director of the Tshepang Trust (2002 to 2013). This not-for-profit organisation pioneered treating HIV and AIDS patients in partnership with state hospitals.

He began this initiative through the SAMA at the request of the late President Nelson Mandela with a bequest from the Nelson Mandela Foundation and funding from the Presidential Emergency Programme for AIDS Relief through the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

He is a healthcare activist who believes that everyone in South Africa has a right to and deserves equal health care and that many of today’s illnesses can be prevented. To that end, he co-founded the Africa Harm Reduction Alliance, whose aim is to create awareness and educate about the need to reduce harm and promote well-being. Dr. Letlape is an avid golfer who lives in Johannesburg with his wife, children and grandchildren.

Mr. Joseph Magero

Mr. Joseph Magero is the Chairman of Campaign for Safer Alternatives (CASA), a pan-African organisation that advocates adopting tobacco harm reduction policies in Africa. As the unifying voice for consumer organisations, CASA promotes exchanging information and potential actions to reduce exposure to tobacco related harm.

He is an ardent tobacco harm reductionist, lobbying for reducing smoking-related diseases and mortality in Africa by advocating for reduced-risk products for cigarette smokers. He is also a mentor on the Tobacco Harm Reduction Scholarships Program (THRSP) of Tobacco Harm Reduction Nigeria, which focuses on promoting safer alternatives to smoking.

In 2019, Mr. Magero was awarded Advocate of the Year by the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations (INNCO).

Mr. Harry Shapiro

Mr. Harry Shapiro is a director of Drugwise – an online drug information service – and Managing Editor of DS Daily – a daily online drug, alcohol and tobacco news service. He has worked in the drugs field for 40 years, first with the Institute of Study of Drug Dependence and then from 2000 with Drug Scope, where he was the director of communications until the charity folded in 2015.

He has been working with Knowledge Action-Change to promote public health through tobacco harm reduction since 2015. In this capacity, he is the author and executive editor of the Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction report. He contributes a blog to Nicotine Science and Policy and is one of KAC’s media spokespeople.

Dr. Imane Kendili

Dr. Imane Kendili is a Moroccan specialist in drug addiction and behaviour. Currently, she is the President of the Moroccan Association of Dependency Medicine and Associated Pathologies (MAPA) and Vice President of the African Centre for Health Research (CARS). She is the author of The Harm Reduction Manifesto.

Prof. Moussa Diallo

Prof. Moussa Diallo has been the head of the dermatology department at HALD, a unique specialist in pathological anatomy, since 2000. He is a strong advocate for harm reduction. He talked about harm reduction and used examples from dermatology.

Prof. David Khayat

Prof. David Khayat is a French oncologist. He’s been Head of the Department of Medical Oncology at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital since 1990. He is also a professor of oncology at the University Pierre and Marie Curie and an adjunct professor at the MD Anderson Cancer Centre in Houston, Texas. He was elected to the America Society of Clinical Oncology board in 2013.

He is an organiser of the World Summit Against Cancer at UNESCO. He initiated the Charter of Paris against Cancer and headed the French Cancer National Institute between April 2004 and September 2006. Currently, he is the Honorary President French Cancer National Institute. Prof. Khayat is the founder and president of the AVEC Foundation, a non-profit organisation declared for public utility in 2013 but dissolved in 2020.

He became a consultant for various industries in the 2010s. Philip Morris
International pays him for lobbying activities for heated tobacco products.