At a glance
CDC has worked in Zambia since 2000. CDC Zambia works closely with the Government of Zambia, Ministry of Health, Zambia National Public Health Institute, and other partner organizations to prevent, detect, respond to infectious disease outbreaks and support broader disease control efforts for HIV and TB. CDC’s work aims to protect the health of Americans and public health around the world.
Key accomplishments
- Supported development and deployment of SmartCare, a national electronic medical record system for patient and program monitoring, to over 1,600 clinics nationwide.
- Supported national and subnational laboratories to achieve international standard accreditation and built government capacity to perform to detect outbreaks through the National Multi-Pathogen Detection Program.
- Supported training of 501 fellows from the Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP), many of whom now support key public health roles at the national and subnational level.
- Expanded the Extension for Community Health Outcomes program, which allows Zambian experts to lend clinical expertise and provide consultations to over 500 sites across all of Zambia’s 10 provinces.
- Pioneered the government to government (G2G) model, where subnational authorities receive direct funding from CDC to implement health programs, and approach that improves outcomes and saves costs.
Global health security
CDC’s global health security work in Zambia focuses on strengthening the country’s public health systems across the following core areas:
Public health systems
CDC supports public health systems strengthening in Zambia by engaging in:
- Enhancement of epidemiology, disease and mortality surveillance, program monitoring, and health information systems, including SmartCare, DHIS2, and Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR).
- Establishment and continued support of the National Public Health Institute to strengthen public health surveillance and the capacities to prepare for, detect, and respond to health threats, including viral hemorrhagic fevers, such as Ebola, which are endemic in neighboring countries.
- Evaluations to assess program impact and inform rapid adjustments to address the evolving HIV, TB, and emerging disease epidemics.
- Support of the Government of Zambia to lead public health responses.
- Support of local government, at the provincial and district level, to provide health services.
Workforce development
CDC supports training disease detectives through FETP. The program trains professionals to perform disease surveillance and contain outbreaks of infectious diseases that can quickly become . FETP trainees learn critical skills for data collection and analysis and using data to inform action. CDC also supports the expansion of academic and clinical training programs in the University of Zambia and the University Teaching Hospital and the use of the Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) platform to enhance training and mentorship.
Emergency response
CDC works to strengthen the capacity of Zambia's emergency response. During various outbreaks, from COVID-19 to cholera, CDC Zambia has supported vaccination campaigns, disease surveillance strategy, contact tracing, and laboratory testing.
HIV and TB
As a key implementer of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), CDC plays an essential role in the fight against HIV and TB. With unmatched scientific and technical knowledge and long-standing relationships with ministries of health, CDC is uniquely positioned to advance HIV, TB, and other global health security activities that keep Americans safe at home and abroad.
Through PEPFAR, CDC provides critical support to Zambia's public health infrastructure, improving the country's ability to prevent, detect, and respond to HIV, TB, and other infectious diseases and minimizing their risk from entering the U.S.
Influenza
CDC Zambia has a longstanding collaboration with the University Teaching Hospital and Ministry of Health on influenza surveillance projects. The findings from these collaborative activities help the U.S. to better understand trends and emerging threats from influenza and other diseases with pandemic potential in Zambia and the Southern Africa region. In addition, specimens from influenza program contribute to a global initiative that uses information on strains in the Southern Hemisphere to design the seasonal influenza vaccine for the U.S.–improving prevention efforts for at-risk Americans and saving lives.
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