Posted On: 2022-01-27 10:21:36

At its Annual General Meeting held on 10th November 2021 in Arusha-Tanzania, the NCD Alliance East Africa Board of Directors elected Prof. Joseph Mucumbitsi as President.

Prof. Mucumbitsi will steward the organization for a term of three years (2021-2024). He comes on board with vigor to work with the team and partners to ensure that the vision of creating an East African population free from NCDs is realized. Professor Mucumbitsi is succeeding Prof. Gerald Yonga Ochienge, who has been the Board Chair of the organization since its inception in 2014.

About Prof. Joseph Mucumbitsi

He is Chief Consultant Pediatrician and Cardiologist at King Faisal Hospital, Kigali (KFH, K) and Associate Professor (Hon) of Pediatrics, University of Rwanda. Currently, he is the Chairperson, Board of Directors of the Rwanda NCD Alliance, and the former Vice Chairperson of the Board of Directors of EANCDA. He is the Founder and President of the Rwanda Heart Foundation (RHF), a member of the World Heart Federation (WHF), the African Heart Network (AHN) and the Panafrican Society of Cardiology (PASCAR). He has been a Member of the Executive Board of AHN from 2012 to 2017 and he was recently elected as a member of the Governing Council of PASCAR. 

As the National Cardiac Surgery program coordinator, Prof. Mucumbitsi has collaborated with the Ministry of Health (MOH), KFH, and international surgical visiting teams to build a comprehensive cardiac care service in the country. He has also worked closely with the MOH and the Rwanda Biomedical Center (RBC) on the National NCD policy, strategic plan, action plan, and NCD protocols and treatment guidelines.

Prof. Mucumbitsi has been involved in different national and international research projects on cardiovascular diseases, congenital heart disease, and RHD prevention, screening, and surgical outcomes. He is the author or co-author of peer reviewed articles and book chapters.

As outgoing vice-president, the former President, Prof. Gerald Yonga, presented him with the organizational constitution and received accomplishment awards from the Danish NCD Alliance.

The Rwanda NCD Alliance congratulates the new President and looks forward to his policy, strategic leadership, and guidance over the next three years.