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About Us

WHO WE ARE

Injury Prevention Initiative for Africa (IPIFA) is an association that works to address the high burden of injuries and promote evidence-based interventions that protect Africans from injuries. We aim to be the continent’s leading authority on injury prevention and control. We study injuries and research the best ways to prevent them, applying science and creating real-world solutions to keep people safe, healthy, and productive. We advocate for the prevention and control of all types of injuries, both intentional and unintentional, to influence both the general population and the leadership on our continent.
“We study injuries and research the best ways to prevent them, applying science and creating real-world solutions to keep people safe, healthy, and productive.”

Our Team

Dr. Tsegazeab Laeke

MD, PhD, Chair

Dr. Seye Mesfin

MD, Pediatric Surgeon, Secretary General

Meseret Admasu

Operation Theatre Nurse Training Lead

Kidist Tebebe

Head Air Freight
Business Unit

Abenezer Tirsit Aklilu

MD, PhD

Tilahun Engida

Finance Lead

Ribka Beleat

MD Intern

Arsema Goytom

MD Intern

Advisory Board

Dr. Ronald Lett

CEO & Director of Curriculum Development
CNIS Founder
Dr Respicious Boniface

Dr. Respicious Boniface

MD, MMED, MSC, FCA (CANECSA)

Professor Hesham El-Sayed

Pediatrics and Clinical epidemiology

Dr. Stephen Mutiso

Injury Prevention Lead
Ministry of Health, Kenya
Dr Olive Kobusingye

Dr. Olive Kobusingye

Accident and Emergency Surgeon

Mable Nakitto Tatiana Tomusange

Mrs

What we do

At Injury Prevention Initiative for Africa, we are dedicated to reducing the incidence of injuries through comprehensive education, advocacy, and community engagement. Our programs focus on raising awareness about safety practices, providing resources for injury prevention, and promoting policies that protect vulnerable populations. We collaborate with schools, health care providers, ministries of health, universities and local organizations to deliver basic life support trainings, basic emergency surgical skills, distribute informative materials, do injury research and conduct safety assessments.

By empowering individuals and communities with the knowledge and tools they need, we strive to create safer environments for everyone, ensuring that the message of injury prevention reaches far and wide. Together, we can make our continent, Africa, safer by reducing the incidence and lasting effects of injuries.

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Dr. Ronald Lett

CEO & Director of Curriculum Development CNIS

Founder of the Canadian Network for International Surgery (CNIS), Dr. Ronald Lett, completed undergraduate medical training and post-graduate surgical training at the University of Alberta and completed his Masters in Injury Epidemiology at McGill University. He was awarded the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Humanitarian of the Year in 2018. Since 1995, he has completed 16 Canadian government-funded projects in Africa focused on surgical and obstetrical skills training as well as injury prevention. Currently, he is the CNIS lead on the 9-county TTT Project in Kenya.

In Vancouver, he is spearheading the digitization of the 12 CNIS Structured Clinical Programs by an expanded CNIS development team. Three programs (FIRST for Midwives, FIRST for Clinical Officers and Trauma Team Training) have been digitized and implemented in Guyana, Nigeria and Tanzania. A fourth program – Traumatic Brain and Spine Injury, will soon be digitized and launched in Tanzania and Ethiopia. Dr. Lett has also digitized three WHO Injury Surveillance Guidelines and developed a Digital Referral Guideline for WHO Tanzania

Dr Respicious Boniface

Dr Respicious Boniface

MD, MMED, MSC, FCA (CANECSA)

Senior Consultant Anesthesiologist and epidemiologist with a wealth of experience in management, teaching, clinicals and research arena.
Academic journey; Doctor of Medicine degree – University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) in 1997; Master of Medicine in Anesthesiology at UDSM (2003); Master of Science in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from University of Witwatersrand, South Africa (2011); Founding Fellow of the College of Anaesthesiologists of East Central and Southern Africa (CANECSA) in 2016. I have also attended a number of Certificate Courses including:

  • Cardiothoracic Anaesthesia course at Tel Aviv University in 2007
  • Intensive Care Unit Management course at McGill University in 2008
  • Clinical Epidemiology course at McGill University in 2009
  • Emergencies and Trauma management course at Fukui University in 2012
  • Heath Economics course at Suez Canal University in 2018
  • Cost Effective Management of Surgical Services at Havard University in 2022

Leadership ranks; Head of Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care at Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute -MOI (2005-2017); Acting Director of Operating Block at MOI (2007-2008); Vice president Technical – Injury Prevention Initiative for Africa (2012-2014); Executive Director of Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute (2017-2023). Secretary of MOI Board of trustees (2017-2023), Senior Medical Consultant at Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (September 2023 to date). Honorary life member and a Board Member of Canadian Network for International Surgery (CNIS) (2021 to-date). Director of Injury Control Centre Tanzania, and Senior lecturer at Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS), teaching and supervising undergraduate and postgraduate students.
In contribution to science, I have more than eighteen scientific papers, two book chapters contributions, conference abstracts, and two theses. Number of consultancies, including World Bank consultancy whose task was; Improving Trauma Care along the North – South Corridor Tanzania and Malawi. I am also a project advisor in the following two projects:

  • August 2024 to June 2025 – Advisor to Essential Emergency and Critical Care in Tanzania project. Carried out by MUHAS, it is implemented in health facilities of 5 regions in Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar, aiming at improving emergency and critical care services in the country.
  • 2021 to 2026 – Advisor to Rwanda912 Research Project, carried out by Ministry of Health in Rwanda, aiming at developing, an ambulance electronic communication system in Rwanda.

Professor Hesham El-Sayed

Pediatrics and Clinical Epidemiology

Hesham El-Sayed is Professor Emeritus of pediatrics, clinical epidemiology, and human genetics, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University (SCU), Egypt. He is the Director of the Clinical Epidemiology Unit of SCU. He is member of the Research and Ethics Committee of the Suez Canal Faculty of Medicine and Former member of the CITI Organization, USA. He is the president elect of the African Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN-Africa) and of the Injury Prevention Initiative for Africa (IPIFA). He was the Former Chairman of the Pediatrics and Family Medicine Departments, Faculty of Medicine, SCU. He is Member of the executive Committee of the Egyptian Pediatrics Medical Board. He was former member and present reviewer of the High Egyptian National Committee for Promotion of Pediatrics Professors.
Prof. Hesham El-Sayed has more than 45 years of work experience on health care, epidemiology, pediatrics and injury control. He is WHO and UNICEF consultant for epidemiology, child health and injury control. He conducted and participated in 30 national and International major research projects. He published more than 70 scientific papers in peer reviewed medical journals dealing with epidemiology, infectious diseases, blood diseases, child health and injuries. He also participated in publishing 10 books and WHO world reports that dealt with injury epidemiology & control, infectious diseases and child health.
Orchid no: “https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3012-6707”
Scopus ID: 26430885500

Dr. Stephen Mutiso

Injury Prevention Lead. Ministry of Health, Kenya

Stephen is an Injury Prevention Lead at the Kenya Ministry of Health. He primarily develops and implements policy, handles injury stakeholder coordination, and spearheads capacity-building functions. He serves as Secretary to the NCD Research Committee and has played a key role in designing patient-centric Digital Health solutions within the NCD space.
Social Media Handles:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dr-stephen-m-mutiso-4a3a1a30
X.com: @dr_smutiso1

Dr Olive Kobusingye

Dr. Olive Kobusingye

Accident and Emergency Surgeon and Injury Epidemiologist.

Dr. Olive C. Kobusingye is a Ugandan consultant trauma surgeon, emergency surgeon, accident injury epidemiologist and academic, who serves as a Senior Research Fellow at both Makerere University School of Public Health and the Institute for Social and Health Sciences of the University of South Africa. Her most recent role was as the Director of the Trauma, Injuries and Disability (TRIAD) programme at the Makerere University School of Public Health in Kampala. She is also a Distinguished Fellow of The George Institute for Global Health, Board Chair of the Road Traffic Injuries Research Network (RTIRN), and co-founder of The Great Outdoors, Uganda.
She is passionate about addressing road crash injury through capacity building and ensuring robust injury research translates into training programs and preventive measures.

Mable Nakitto Tatiana Tomusange

Mrs

A Ugandan Information Scientist, and a Public Health Enthusiast with 21 years’ work experience in Road Safety and Injury Prevention. Passionate about Child Road Safety, and Women in Transportation & Mobility. Previously, worked with Injury Control Center- Uganda and Safekids Uganda. Currently managing a Social Enterprise promoting Public Health and Safety called Consult Afrika Usalama. Provides technical guidance on Road safety internationally, regionally and in Uganda. A Member of Uganda Health Scientists, Uganda Library Association, Social Entrepreneur Network, and UK Uganda Health Alliance.