The New Voices team sends its congratulations to 2020 Fellow Danjuma Adda, president-elect of the World Hepatitis Alliance. As a medical doctor and a person living with hepatitis, Dr. Adda is a powerful advocate for preventing noncommunicable diseases. Through the New Voices Fellowship, Dr. Adda has deepened his media and advocacy skills to shine a spotlight on hepatitis, which kills more people than HIV, malaria, or tuberculosis. We’re excited to see how he elevates his advocacy work in this new role.
Current WHA president Su Wang announced his selection as president-elect in an email Wednesday afternoon:
“Danjuma has been a fierce and vocal advocate for people living with viral hepatitis in Nigeria, regionally in Africa and on the global stage. From 2014-2016, he served as WHA board member for the AFRO region. He is the Executive Director of Chagro-Care Trust (CCT) and the Center for Initiative & Development, non-profit healthcare organisations in Nigeria. He is also the national coordinator for the civil society network on viral hepatitis in Nigeria, a network of organisations that held the first Nigeria Hepatitis Summit in 2018. He is currently a fellow in the prestigious New Voices program for the Aspen Institute.
Danjuma will be the first WHA president to come from the African region, an area affected by a tremendous burden and a high mortality rate of viral hepatitis. Through his own personal experiences with hepatitis B, losing his mother to hepatitis C, and seeing first-hand the challenges people face in accessing viral hepatitis testing and care in Africa, Danjuma’s drive comes from his passion for change.”
The New Voices family looks forward to celebrating Dr. Adda’s accomplishments for years to come.