Zambia 

   Country Statistics

   Malaria Consortium in Zambia

   Activities

   Projects currently undertaken in Zambia

   Country Progress

Country Statistics

Population size (2009)	12.9 million
Life expectancy (2005)	40.5 years
Child Mortality (Deaths Before the Age of 5) (2007)	170 per 1,000 live births
Maternal Mortality (2005)	830 per 100,000 births
Percentage of HIV-positive adults (15-49) (2007)	15.2%
Percentage of households with ≥ 1 mosquito nets (2007)	50%
Percentage of Insecticide Treated Net Coverage (2006)	68.9%
Number of reported malaria cases (2007)	4,731,338 (annual mean)
Number of reported malaria deaths (2007)	6.484

 

 

Statistical data obtained from DESA, UNDP, UNICEF, UNAIDS and WHO

Malaria Consortium in Zambia

As an established member of the malaria community in Zambia, Malaria Consortium has formed strong ties with key partners. This allows work at provincial, district and health facility levels.

Malaria Consortium works in Zambia as a partner to the Ministry of Health, and most specifically, the National Malaria Control Centre.  Programmes are carried out throughout Southern and Eastern Provinces.  Malaria Consortium Zambia is supported by Irish Aid and has worked to strengthen the health system in Zambia since 2004
 
Malaria Consortium is currently operating in all 11 districts of Southern Province, and 8 districts of Eastern Province. The formation of District Malaria Task Forces has helped to coordinate malaria control activities by bringing together different organisations to provide improved healthcare. Key successes in Zambia include support to the Community Malaria Booster programme and support to the National Malaria Control Centre at various events to advocate for malaria.
 
Malaria Consortium has also been active in the roll out of Home Based Management of Fever (HBMF) which includes training of community health workers in the use of Rapid Diagnostic Tests to detect malaria and using treatment drugs of choice artemisinin based combination therapies (ACTs).

Activities

Malaria Consortium Zambia focuses on four main areas:

• Quality Assurance (QA): Under a partnership with Improving Malaria Diagnostics, Malaria Consortium is creating quality assurance guidelines and training curricula.  Malaria Consortium plans to take the lead in the QA trainings throughout Southern and Eastern Provinces, and provide technical support for training programmes in the remaining seven Zambian provinces.

• Data Analysis:  Malaria Consortium has made an impact in Zambia by providing comprehensive solutions for diagnosis, treatment and prevention. By conducting training for 57 district staff in Southern and Eastern Provinces on how to work with malaria data to reveal patterns in care, incidence and mortality, the organisation is moving forward to the next step - transferring management responsibilities to the districts themselves.  Prior to the launch of this training programme, data mismanagement was a major problem but discrepancies are now disappearing to aid the group’s overall efficiency.   

• Malaria Task Forces :  Instead of relying solely on the health care system to reduce malaria, Malaria Consortium has also tapped the potential of business, along with NGOs and other government ministries to reach further into local communities.  The idea of a Malaria Task Force at the District level is based on the assumption that the public sector stands to benefit from the greater human and material resources that the private sector demands. The objectives for all Malaria Task Forces are the same:  to involve stakeholders in the coordination, planning, implementation, advocacy, monitoring and evaluation, to reduce the burden of malaria by reducing incidences in all age groups.   

• Case Management: Providing prompt, effective treatment for malaria remains an unmet goal for health centres across Zambia. In response to the debilitating human resource crisis in the Zambian health system, Malaria Consortium has designed a case management training that targets all levels of staff, to ensure that any staff member handling malaria cases knows the correct protocols.  Malaria Consortium has invited doctors, clinical officers, nurses, and a host of other health staff to participate in the case management trainings.
  
  

Projects Currently Undertaken in Zambia

Country Progress

Details to appear here soon...