Zambia News

Lusaka, Zambia – The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa is convening a landmark Expert Dialogue on Competency-Based Health Professions Education from 12–14 November 2024 in Lusaka, Zambia. This dialogue aims to address critical gaps in the training and education of Africa's health workforce, with the goal of transforming health professions education leading to improved service delivery, accelerating progress toward Universal Health Coverage (UHC), and ultimately reducing the region’s preventable deaths.

Lusaka ‒ One evening, Lusaka resident Samuel Zyambo rapidly fell into a disturbing, dreamlike state of unconsciousness. He was unaware that when he woke up the following day, he was in a cholera treatment centre fighting for his life, with no recollection of anything that had taken place in the previous 12 hours.

Lusaka - Zambia is grappling with a severe drought, declared a national disaster at the end of February. Over 1 million people in 84 of the 116 districts have been affected, and the lack of rainfall is devastating crop and animal production.  

According to the government’s crop assessment data, the drought has destroyed 983 765 hectares of maize crops, the country’s staple food, with production declining by nearly 50%.  

Lusaka - As cholera continues to impact communities in Zambia, UNICEF and WHO are partnering with ECHO to respond to the current crisis and address the underlying root causes of cholera, especially inadequate access to safe water and sanitation facilities. As part of this intervention, ECHO will contribute USD 1 million to UNICEF and WHO to support the joint efforts towards Zambia’s cholera response. 

In response to the increasing number of cholera cases in Zambia’s Central Province, WHO Zambia has undertaken a crucial mission to assess the situation on the ground and map areas for immediate support.

On 15 December 2023, Central Province recorded its first cholera case in Mumbwa district. Since then, the province has witnessed a surge in cholera cases across ten districts, with Chibombo, Kabwe, and Mumbwa being high case-yielding districts. As of 04 February 2024, Central Province has recorded 1,146 cases with 36 deaths. Sixty-five percent of the deaths are community deaths.

Lusaka – Zambia has the third highest burden of cervical cancer in the world, with an incidence rate of 65.5 per 100 000 women and a mortality rate of 43.4 per 100 000 women in 2020. Despite being a preventable and treatable disease, cervical cancer accounts for about 23% of all new cancer cases in the country. The peak age at diagnosis is between 40-49 years.

Lusaka ‒ Imeldah Chulu lives near Matero level 1 hospital in Lusaka District, Zambia. The hospital houses one of the six community-based cholera treatment units in the district, adding to the two bigger cholera treatment centres at the National Heroes Stadium and Levy Mwanawasa University Teaching Hospital. 

Lusaka – As the cholera outbreak in Zambia continues to expand rapidly, efforts are being stepped up to halt the spread of disease and save lives. A vaccination campaign is currently underway targeting 1.5 million people, including children, health workers and people at high risk of infection in the worst affected areas.