Issah Ali has close to two-decade working experience in health and development activism with a specific focus on unhealthy commodities (tobacco, alcohol, salt, fat and sugar), reproductive health, drug prevention and control, peacebuilding, physical activity, literacy drive, youth, gender & community empowerment.
 
He has served on the board of the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA) as Chairman from 2010-2012 and board member from 2008-2009.
 
He is currently a board member of the Global Alcohol Policy Alliance (GAPA) and Framework Convention Alliance on Tobacco Control (FCA). Mr Ali was the National Secretary of Ghana NCD Alliance (GhNCDA), Executive Director of Vision for Alternative Development (VALD), Convener of Healthy Diet Alliance Ghana (HeDAG) and the Head of Secretariat of the West African Alcohol Policy Alliance (WAAPA). He is a technical advisor on policy and programmes at the Institute of Leadership and Development (INSLA).
 
Issah Ali was among the civil society advocates who advocated for the coming into force of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and the passage of Ghana’s Public Health Act 851 of 2012 and Tobacco Control Regulation into law.
 
His work includes authoring technical policy papers, books and reports including Ghana’s Civil Society Shadow Report on the implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) in 2010 & 2014, Ghana Tobacco Industry Mapping and Monitoring (TIMM) Report 2013 and Living in Diversity (2014).
 
Others are the Technical paper on Ghana’s implementation of graphic health warnings on tobacco packages (2014), the Technical policy paper on the tobacco industry interferences in Ghana (2016) and the Technical policy paper on tackling alcohol related-harms in West Africa (2019). 
 
He was awarded a Certificate of Service from UNESCO, Department of Community Development and Accra Metropolitan Assembly in 2000 for literacy drive in Greater Accra communities and a Certificate of Recognition from Stop TB Programme and Accra Metropolitan Health Directorate in 2007. Under his leadership, the Vision for Alternative Development (VALD) received the 2013 World Health Organizations (WHO) Award for recognition, dedication and commitment to tobacco control in Ghana.
 
Mr Ali is an Advance Member of the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP), a Member of the International Network on Brief Interventions for Alcohol & other Drugs (INEBRIA) and represent VALD at the Word Federation Against Drugs (WFAD).
 
He is currently providing leadership to the CSO Coalition on the Narcotic Control Law (CNCCL) towards the passage of a strong Narcotic Control Commission law in Ghana and advocating for the development, passage and implementation of a comprehensive National Healthy Diet Policy and legislation including food labelling.
 
He attended several national, regional and international missions and meetings on the control and prevention of unhealthy commodities, drug prevention, health and development.

As a member of the Istanbul Initiative, Mr Ali is committed and working to advance the vision of the initiative to address humanities challenges in the areas of drug prevention and addictive behaviours.