Keynote Speakers
Puan Sri Dato’ Zuraidah binti Haji Mohamed is the first woman to ever hold the position of Director General at the National Anti-Drugs Agency of Malaysia (NADA). She has vast experience in the public services and this is her 34th year in the Civil Service. Her previous positions include the Director of Industrial Services Section, Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department (2009-2010), Deputy Secretary General (Operations), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (2006-2009), and Director of Treatment and Rehabilitation Department, NADA (2003-2006).
Under the Malaysia Government Transformation Programme which is designed to provide all Malaysians access to improved public services, Puan Sri Dato’ Zuraidah has led NADA in transforming the concept of Compulsory Centre for Drug Users into an open access services named as the Cure and Care 1Malaysia Clinic (C&C). The C&C aims to provide treatment, medical and rehabilitation services to all Malaysians who have drugs related problems. Through the C&C concept, drug addicts are decriminalized when they voluntarily come to C&C and follow through the programmes.
Apart from C&C, Puan Sri Dato’ Zuraidah has also introduced the Cure & Care Service Centre (CCSC) and Caring Community House (CCH) which are operated by the NGOs / local community. The CCSC is a day care centre for those who have drugs related problem. Among the objectives of having the CCSC are to provide treatment and rehabilitation services for drug addicts in the community, provide advocacy and referral services and to provide prevention, outreaching and intervention services. Mean while, the CCH plays a role in disseminating information about the danger of drugs and it enhances the involvement of local community to guard their locality against drugs.
Mr Gary Lewis, UNODC Representative for East Asia and the Pacific, Bangkok
Mr. Lewis, a national of Barbados, has served with the United Nations for 23 years in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.
In July 2008, he was appointed as UNODC Representative for East Asia and the Pacific at the organization's Regional Centre based in Bangkok, effective July 2008.
Mr. Lewis started his career with the United Nations as a National Officer with the UN Development Programme Regional Office in the Eastern Caribbean in 1987. He then moved on to join the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna (1993-1995). Thereafter, he has served as Assistant Representative in Pakistan (1995-1997), Deputy Representative in Afghanistan (1997-1999), Deputy Representative in Southern Africa (based in Pretoria from 1999-2003). Immediately prior to his posting to the UNODC Regional Centre, Mr. Lewis served as Representative in the UNODC Regional Office for South Asia, based in New Delhi and covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.
Mr. Lewis holds a Master of Science degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics. His undergraduate years were spent at Queen's University in Canada and Glasgow University in the UK. In addition to writing on matters related to drug control and human trafficking, Mr. Lewis is a published author on Barbadian history and security matters.
Mr David Turner, Executive Officer, Vienna NGO Committee
Mr. David Turner began working in 1968 with homeless alcoholics and drug dependents. From 1970 he worked in a centre for homeless young people, mainly drug dependents, in central London, becoming Director in 1973. From 1975 – 1994 Mr. Turner was Director of the UK national co-ordinating agency for drug services, a member of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs as well as a member of the Parole Board of England and Wales and the General Advisory Council of the BBC.
In 1994 he joined UNDCP (now UNODC) moving to ICAA in 1995. In 1998 he moved to CeIS Roma Consultant to the Italian National Drugs Observatory, responsible for preparation of the statistical returns and national report of Italy to the EMCDDA from 1998 - 2005. Additionally, he was Vice Chair of the Vienna NGO Committee ‘Beyond 2008’ Initiative and Chair of the Vienna NGO Committee on Drugs. He has been a consultant for UNESCO, UNODC, WHO, ILO, European Commission, a plenary speaker and trainer at conferences and seminars in over 70 countries, consultant to the BBC and independent broadcasters in the UK and has written and broadcast extensively on drug-related issues.
Dr. Nafsiah Mboi, Ped, MPH, Secretary of the National AIDS Commission, Indonesia
Dr. Nafsiah Mboi - Walinono, SpA, MPH, was born in Sengkang, Sulawesi Selatan, on 14 July 1940. Dr. Nafsiah is the oldest daughter of Mr. H.A Walinono, a sister of Prof. Dr. Andi Hasan Walinono, former Director General and Secretary General for Education at the National Education Ministry, and Ir. Erna Witoelar, former Minister of Settlement and Area Infrastructure.
Dr. Nafsiah completed her medical education at the Universiy of Indonesia in 1964, where her husband, Dr. Ben Mboi, former Governor of East Nusa Tenggara, also studied. She continued her education with advanced Pediatrics in Belgium and Epidemiology and social pediatrics in the Netherlands. She completed a Master’s Degree in Public Health in Belgium in 1990. She was a Takemi Fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health during the years 1991-92.
Before being appointed the Secretary for the National AIDS Commission, Dr. Nafsiah had played a leading role in activities related to the improvement of the quality of health and education in Indonesia. Throughout her career Dr. Nafsiah has been directly involved in a wide range of efforts to promote gender balance and acceleration of development in many parts of Indonesia.
Previously, Dr. Nafsiah had been a member of the Indonesian Parliament (1992 – 1997), and served as Director of the Department of Gender and Women’s Health at the World Health Organization (WHO)) based in Geneva, Switzerland (1999 - 2002). She served fror some time (1997 – 1999) as a member and then Chair of the United Nations Commission on the Rights of the Child), the first Asian to serve in this capacity.
At present, Dr. Nafsiah is a Vice Chairperson of the National Commission n violence against women, and as once become the Vice Chairperson of the Indonesian National Committee for Handicrafts (DEKRANAS).
In the field of AIDS prevention, Dr. Nafsiah served as Head of the Indonesian Delegation at the Summit Meeting for the Declaration of UNGASS (2006). From 2002 - 2006 she serve as Senior Consultant on HIV and AIDS to Family Health International (FHI/ASA) working specifically on work in Indonesia's eastern most area of Tanah Papua.. She was also active in the technical advisory group of the National AIDS Commission. In that connection one of her most significant achievements was facilitating the birth and later implementation of the Sentani Commitment, (2004) an innovative partnership of Central and Local Government authorities working to promote effective responses to HIV and AIDS in the then 6 most seriously affective provinces.
Anthony Edmondson, Executive Director for Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc
Anthony Edmondson, Executive Director for Narcotics Anonymous World Services, Inc. has over twenty years of nonprofit management experience and has served as Executive Director of NAWS for twelve years. Prior to the position of Executive Director, Mr. Edmondson was Co-Executive Director of the organization for six years.
Mr. Edmondson has provided the organization with leadership and vision, helping NA to attain international growth. Currently, NAWS has sixty-one employees and has branch offices in Canada, Belgium, India and Iran. The Iranian branch office opened its doors for services in 2005 and Iran has accorded NA World Services the NGO of the year award twice, in Iran.
Mr. Edmondson is a liaison on behalf of NAWS internationally represented Board of Directors and NAWS staff at world services international headquarters, located in Chatsworth, California, as well as at NAWS branch offices.
Mr. Edmondson has more than thirteen years volunteer experience in the non-profit sector. He is a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) and is the past chair of the Key Philanthropic Committee and is the past chair of the ASAE Ethics Committee. Additionally, Mr. Edmondson is treasurer of the board of a community based treatment facility.
Datuk Mohd Yunus Pathi, President PENGASIH Malaysia, 1st Vice President ASIAN Federation of Therapeutic Communities & 2nd Vice President World Federation of Therapeutic Communities
Datuk Mohd Yunus is the founder member and current President of PENGASIH Malaysia (Association of recovering addicts). For the last 25 years, he had been consistently active in advocating the rights of drug user’s and PLWHA access for a better life. The milestone of his contribution was the psychological/stigma breakthrough of former drug addict and acceptance of main stream society.
He brings to these position years of experiences in local & international development for rehabilitation and prevention of substances abuse, HIV/AIDS prevention, care and support. He pioneered the Therapeutic Community Rehabilitation approaches, which currently runs 7 rehabilitation services centers in various part of Malaysia.
His position in the World & Asian Federation of Therapeutic Communities further contributed to the growth of rehabilitation services in this region. He shares the experience and methodologies with Indonesia, Maldives, Iran, Pakistan, Brunei and Afghanistan to name a few.
During his tenure years, PENGASIH had received several awards and recognitions. The special category award for Best Private Rehabilitation from the Home Ministry, the Tun Dr. Siti Hasmah Award for outstanding contribution in HIV/AIDS works, recognized as one of the Best Practices NGO in Treatment & Rehabilitation in Asia by the Colombo Plan Drug Advisory Program.
Mike Trace, Chairman, International Drug Policy Consortium, United Kingdom
Mike Trace has a wide range of experience in the field of drug treatment and policy, from direct work with problem drug users, to senior positions in national government and international agencies.
Following a period of 12 years working in and managing projects that provided treatment to the homeless, drug users and offenders, Mike was offered the post of Deputy UK Anti-Drug Co-ordinator in 1997, and held this post until 2001. His duties included the creation of the UK National Drug Strategy – Tackling Drugs To Build A Better Britain – and the oversight of the first years of its implementation.
From July 2000 to January 2003, he was the Chair of the European Union drugs agency, the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). In this role, he had responsibility for steering the 3 year workplan of the agency on behalf of the EU Member States, which involved the collation and dissemination of research and analysis on drug use, problems and responses across Europe.
From July 2001 to November 2002, Mike held the post of Director of Performance at the National Treatment Agency, set up by the UK government to oversee the rapid expansion of the drug treatment sector. In November 2002, he left to take up the post of Chief, Demand Reduction Section at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna.
Since leaving his United Nations post in early 2003, Mike has returned to the UK, and the non-governmental sector. After a year as Chief Executive of The Blenheim Project, a provider of community treatment services in London, he moved in July 2004 to his current post as Chief Executive of RAPT, one of the biggest providers of drug treatment services in the UK prison system.
Mike continues to engage in policy issues as Chairman of the International Drug Policy Consortium (www.idpc.net ), a global network of NGOs with an interest in the promotion of humane and effective drug policies. This consortium oversees the publication of a series of reports and briefing papers that aim to summarise the currently available evidence on drug policy effectiveness, and co-ordinates the advocacy, advice and consultancy services of its global membership.
Steve Kraus, Director, Regional Support Team, Asia and the Pacific, Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Bangkok, Thailand
Steve Kraus joined UNAIDS as Director, Regional Support Team for Asia and the Pacific, in April 2010. Mr. Kraus brings to this position over 30 years of experience in international development, humanitarian assistance programmes, sexual and reproductive health and HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.
Most recently, Mr. Kraus has served as UNAIDS Global Coordinator and Chief of the HIV/AIDS Branch of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) at New York, where he strengthened linkages between sexual and reproductive health and HIV. Mr. Kraus led UNFPA’s efforts on HIV prevention for women and girls, gender equality, comprehensive condom programming, adolescent sexual health and key affected populations. Previously, he served in WHO’s Global Programme on AIDS in Africa and Asia, with UNAIDS as Country Coordinator in Vietnam and Programme Adviser to the Inter-country Support Team in Asia, and later with UNDGO as the Senior HIV/AIDS Policy Adviser. With vast field experience in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, Mr. Kraus was a key player in the establishment of UNAIDS; a Founding Member of Thailand Business Coalition on AIDS; initiated multi-agency programmes to combat the trafficking of women and children; and establishing national partnership forums on AIDS.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Mr. Kraus served in his country’s diplomatic service, including five years in refugee, population and migration affairs, and five years with Catholic Relief Services. He is an active member of Rotary International. He has post-graduate work in Tropical Medicine and a Master of Science from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, a Master of Public Health and Master of Social Work from the University of Minnesota, and under-graduate degrees in History and Philosophy from Saint Mary’s University. He is married with two children.
In 1981 Dr. Taylor assumed the role of Executive Director of Center Point, Inc, a small private, non-profit drug and alcohol treatment program for men and women in San Rafael. Over the twenty-nine years of her remarkable stewardship, Center Point has grown tremendously, responding to the complex needs of those suffering from disenfranchisement in our community. Believing that adversity can be overcome and the extraordinary can be achieved by each of the clients she serves, Dr. Taylor has developed a wide array of services throughout California and, more recently, in Oklahoma. These include community- and institutional-based residential rehabilitation programs for men, women, and pregnant and parenting women and their children, outpatient services, adolescent and adult drug courts, comprehensive vocational services, including job training and placement, transitional housing, a primary health care clinic, mental health services, parenting education, and family reunification services.
Dr. Taylor now works closely with local, state, and federal agencies and representatives to form policy and new legislation that advance the field of treatment and, in the last five years, services for veterans returning from warfield. She has been a consultant to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) in the White House, was a member of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment’s National Advisory Council, and has served on innumerable advisory groups for federal and state agencies. Dr. Taylor is currently the President of the Treatment Communities of America, the first woman in the history of the organization to be elected to such a position in the pre-eminent national association in the field, and is the Co-Chair of the California Perinatal Treatment Network.
Kamilia Ibrahim, PEMADAM, Malaysia
Kamilia Ibrahim joined PEMADAM in January 2005 as Secretary General. Before joining PEMADAM, she was the Chairman of Islamic Women Consultative Council and Board of Trustees of YADIM.
She received her bachelor's degree in law and MA in from University Malaya. Besides, she got her Diploma in Syariah Law and Practice from International Islamic University Malaysia.
Kamilia has extensive experience as a politician and private lawyer. She is also a principal partner in her firm involving administrative and managerial functions in addition to legal works that encompass property, corporate and litigation matters that entail civil and Syariah suits.
She sits on several Committee and Council related to Islamic, Social and Children development and programme in Malaysia.
Prof Adeeba Kamarulzaman, Professor and Head of Infectious Diseases, University of Malaya, President, Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC), Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia
Adeeba Kamarulzaman graduated in Medicine from Monash University and received her training in Infectious Diseases at the Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital, Victoria, Australia. She is presently a Professor of Medicine and Infectious Diseases at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, where she heads a tertiary referral center for Infectious Diseases and HIV/AIDS.
In 2007 she established the Centre of Excellence for Research on AIDS (CERiA) at the University of Malaya where the main research focus is on the epidemiology, prevention and treatment of HIV for injecting drug users including those in incarcerated settings.
As the President of the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC) the peak NGO for HIV/AIDS from 2006 to 2010 she led the community response to HIV/AIDS including successfully advocating for the introduction of harm reduction programmes to prevent HIV transmission amongst people who use drugs. She is presently the Chairman of the Malaysian AIDS Foundation, an organization that raises funds to provide treatment, care and support for people living and affected by HIV.
Associate Professor Robert Ali - Director , Clinical Policy and Research for the Drug and Alcohol Services Council (SA)
Associate Professor Robert Ali is a Public Health and Addiction Medicine physician who has worked in the alcohol and other drug area since 1985. Associate Professor Ali is the director of a WHO Collaborating Centre for the Treatment of Drug and Alcohol Problems based in the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Adelaide. Associate Professor Ali was the Chair of the National Expert Advisory Committee on Illicit Drugs.
Mrs Vuong Thi Huong Thu - Program Manager Drug Use and HIV (FHI)
Mrs. Vuong Thi Huong Thu has a Master Degree in Business Administration in Vietnam and a Master Degree in Public Heatlh at the Ohio State University in the USA. She has had 18 years of experience in public health work in the areas of HIV and drug use. She has been managing the FHI/VN’s portfolio on harm reduction for drug users, advocacy for the successful introduction of Methadone treatment into Vietnam, the setting up of the employment services for drug users and most importantly in drug policy advocacy to facilitate a shift away from a punitive approach to drug use and addiction to a public health and humane approach. She is a key facilitator of dialogue between the international community and the Government of Vietnam to achieve a consensus in moving away from the compulsory drug treatment centers model towards evidence-based policy and programs for effective drug treatment in Vietnam.
Ms Beate Hammond, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Vienna
