Agenda

Melissa Cederqvist Njihia is a public health professional with 13 years’ experience in the digital health sector, including but not limited to community health information systems, information management in emergency response, CRVS digitization, use of electronic Patient Reported Outcomes in global clinical trials and ensuring equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines through the transparent use and sharing of data. 

Melissa joined the World Health Organization’s Department of Digital Health and Innovation in December 2022 as consultant to lead and coordinate the work with the Digital Health Centre of Excellence and the department’s work on partnerships and collaboration. Prior to this, she has worked with the UNICEF Regional Office for Eastern and Southern  Africa, UNICEF Uganda and Malawi Country Offices as well as private sector and civil society organizations such as Plan International and Transparency International overseeing implementation of projects in countries such as Ghana, Bangladesh and Zambia. In 2022, she served as the Civil Society Organization (CSO) Representative on the WHO hosted Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A) Facilitation Council Tracking & Accelerating Progress Working Group.

Melissa holds an MMSc in International Health and a B.A. with a double major in Chemistry and Management and a minor in Economics. She conducted her Masters thesis on the reliability of SMS vs. paper-based tools for data collection in health service delivery settings and her Chemistry Bachelors thesis on the simulation of drug resistance in HIV and AIDS treatment using computational chemistry.

Dr. Derrick Muneene is Head of Capacity Building and Collaboration of the Digital Health and Innovation Department at the WHO Headquarters, Geneva. He has 25 years of progressive experience in global digital health, global public health informatics, digital health governance & literacy and digital health capacity building. He holds a PhD and an MSc in Public Health, an MSc in Computer Science along with various project management certifications such as PRINCE2 and project+.

Previously, he served as the regional mHealth and eHealth advisor for the WHO Regional Office for Africa, where he supported 47 African countries with the adoption of eHealth strategies and eHealth solutions. Before this, he served with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as acting branch chief for Health Informatics and Health Systems Analysts / Health Applications Manager. 

Roman Chestnov is a Digital Services Project Officer at the Development Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). He has worked on a number of digital health projects under the scope of the joint WHO-ITU "Be He@lthy, Be Mobile" global initiative since joining ITU in 2020. He has contributed to the implementation of preventive health communication campaigns in five countries in Africa and the Caribbean, and has been part of an international team supporting the rollout of a pilot telemedicine solution in Senegal. Prior to joining ITU, he worked with the UNDP Global Health and Development Team where he contributed to the development of national health investment cases. His research interests include cost-effectiveness analysis of digital health solutions and AI applications in health. 

Philippe Veltsos joined PATH in December 2021 as Technical Director for Digital Health. He leads and coordinates the technical work across the projects of the Center of Digital and Data Excellence as well as Digital Square, working with numerous innovators, implementing partners and donors to advance the digital transformation process at national, regional and global levels. He is involved and contributes to several communities for standards and interoperability, reference architectures and implementations, Health Information Exchange (HIE) as well as for Global Goods for Digital Health and the broader work of the Digital Public Goods Alliance (DPGA).

Prior to joining PATH, Philippe worked as a technical officer in the department of Digital Health and Innovations at the World Health Organization (WHO) and contributed to the work of the team on the Smart Vaccination Certificate (SVC) guideline and the promotion of the HL7 FHIR standard and the use of International Patient Summary (IPS) for the SVC. 

Philippe was previously a co-founder and solutions engineer at Novel-T Sàrl in Geneva Switzerland from 2012 to end of 2020. He co-managed the company of 35 staff and worked on several global, regional and national Health Information System projects. In collaboration with the WHO and its the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners as well as other actors and stakeholders, he led projects and solutions for the Global Polio Information System, the Global Polio Laboratory Network, Environmental Surveillance as well as Measles Risk Assessment. Philippe was involved in several national projects in Polio endemic and priority countries, developing solutions at national level as well as for community health workers.

Prior to establishing Novel-T, Philippe worked at the WHO as a Health Information Systems project manager, business and systems analyst from 2002 to 2012, helping the organization and its departments with their data, information management and systems needs. 

He is a technology enthusiast looking at how the latest advances in information and communication technologies can bring efficiency to existing business processes and impact current issues through effective collaboration and with a lens to reduce the digital divide and increase equitable access to Public Health in the digital age. Philippe is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, with an MBA and MS in Telecommunications where he also taught in the Business Systems Analysis and Technology department. Philippe holds several certifications including Prince2, ITIL3 and other project management and leadership practices. Philippe enjoys spending time with his family, playing tennis as well as motorbiking riding through the beautiful mountains across the Swiss and French alps.

Email address: pveltsos@path.org  

LinkedIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/veltsos

Twitter: http://twitter.com/veltsos 

Milner Makuni is a seasoned professional with more than twenty five (25) years of experience in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and eGovernment. He has served both in private and public sector institutions in Zambia and has over 15 years’ experience as an Information and Communication Technology Lecturer and Consultant. 
With his vast experience and knowledge of ICTs, Mr. Makuni has been a well equipped policy and planning Lead in the Zambia’s Digital Transformation programme. This role includes development of policy, legislation and strategic planning in the ICT sector.

As a Past President of Computer Society of Zambia (now known as ICTAZ) whose establishment he helped pioneer, Mr. Makuni contributed to the introduction of first ever National ICT Policy of 2006, ICT Act,2009, ECT Act,2009 and enhanced stakeholder relations between Government, ICT industry players and ICT professionals. His active participation at International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other international fora where he has represented the Government of the Republic of Zambia on numerous occasions has provided for well-utilized opportunities for sharing the country's policies and development of its ICT sector to the global community. 

Mr Makuni has also over the years been instrumental in seamlessly, coordinating collaboration between the ICT regulator - Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) and Government. 
Currently, (2022 to date) he is Director, Communications and Digital Technologies in the Ministry of Technology and Science in Zambia. He serves as Vice Chairperson on the Board of ZICTA and Board Member of the Health Professional Council of Zambia. 

He holds a Masters Degree in Information Technology, Masters of Philosophy in Information and Knowledge Management, BSc, Computing and HND –IMIS.