Dr. Dennis Addo was a Mid-Career MPA candidate and the Edward S. Mason Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School. As a physician, entrepreneur, and policymaker, Dennis is passionate about improving the global healthcare landscape, with a sharp focus on Africa. He is the founder and CEO of Claron Health International, an innovative corporate health and wellness initiative facilitating the delivery of medical and preventative healthcare services across Ghana and other parts of Africa.
He is deeply interested in disease control in African countries, lowering mortality rates, and giving more people the chance to improve their quality of life. Ultimately, Dr. Addo believes in fulfilling his purpose of bringing healthcare to underserved rural communities, deprived families, and war-torn societies. Dennis believes healthcare should be affordable and accessible to all while conserving Africa’s scarce resources.
He has worked in many remote Africa and served with various United Nations Peacekeeping Operations in war-torn countries, including Lebanon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Liberia. He worked for over ten years as a Physician and Public Health Consultant at the 37 Military Hospital, Accra, and with the Ghana Armed Forces.
Dennis also co-founded the international award-winning Bisa Health Application, allowing anyone with a smartphone to interact with medical professionals from the palm of their hand. Bisa Health application was instrumental in disseminating information during the West Africa Ebola crisis between 2014 to 2016.
Dennis obtained his undergraduate and medical degrees from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and postgraduate degrees at Hebrew University and the University of California Berkeley and is a member of the Ghana College of Physicians and surgeons. He is also a graduate of the MIT Entrepreneurship Program.
Dennis was appointed to the Board of the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA), Ghana, in 2017. The NHIA has the mandate of achieving financial risk protection and universal health care for all Ghanaians.
As a Cheng Fellow alumni, Dennis will continue to pilot and scale Wala Digital Health, an innovative digital marketplace for blood donation, processing, and delivery to tackle the fatal consequences of blood shortages in Africa. Wala will also enhance progress towards achieving the global SDG of Good health and Well-being.