Dr Joseph Mwenya Kasonde is currently the Minister of Health in Zambia. He graduated at Aberdeen University, Scotland, and obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1976.

From 1977 to 1984 Dr Kasonde served as Director of Medical Services, combining this position with that of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health of Zambia from 1979.

From 1985 to1998 he worked for the World Health Organization as Responsible Officer for Research Capacity Strengthening in Developing counties in the Special Programme for Research and Research Training in Human Reproduction.

From 2000 he has worked as an International Healthcare Consultant in various capacities. He is co-founder of the Zambia Forum for Health Research (2005) and Lusaka Apex Medical University (2008). He has a special interest in health systems development and the use of research evidence for policy-making.