Bhavna Mukhopadhyay

Bhavna Mukhopadhyay is at the helm of Voluntary Health Association of India as the Chief Executive. She has worked with VHAI for more than 25 years in various capacities, across different issues of public health. She is a senior public health & development professional, who has won many accolades and has a diverse experience on various domains of health and development at various levels. A Masters in Extension Education with multiple certifications from international universities in Health Promotion, Tobacco and Epidemiology, she has stayed connected with the grassroots and has helped in scaling up various public health programmes for maximizing impact among the poor and marginalized.

As a Chief Executive with VHAI, she has worked as a strategic leader and thinker for advance public health policy change in India by building strong partnerships with National and State governments. She has worked with legislators for policy intervention, implementing sustainable health and development programmes and managing large networks and public-private partnerships in the health sector. She has also managed Post-Disaster Relief and Rehabilitation programmes in India. Having extensive experience in conceptualizing and implementing public health programmes and managing Donor & Partner Relations, she provides strategic guidance to the teams working on a various public health programmes on gender & reproductive health & rights, food & Nutrition security, tuberculosis prevention & control, immunization, Health Promotion, NCDs, Tobacco control, Marriage No Child’s Play Programme, Axshya- An Initiative to Reach Unreached for TB Control, Immunization Programme.

Currently she spearheads tobacco control programme on behalf of VHAI network. She has worked on policy advocacy & effective implementation of Tobacco Control Laws in India. This initiative led by her has received WHO Regional Director’s Award for Outstanding Contribution in Tobacco Control.  She was one of the pioneers for initiating the work on alternative livelihoods for bidi workers in alliance with state governments and Skill Development Corporation of India. A sought-after expert in tobacco control, she often speaks in national & international conferences, appears on Television debates and contributes to print & online news stories.

She represents the civil society on several Committees of the Central and State Governments as a Member including the Technical Committee on Alternative Livelihoods for Tobacco Workers., Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India; Expert Committee for Development of New Pictorial Health Warnings, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of India; IEC Advisory Committee for the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Programme among others.