Zambia UK Health Workers Alliance
Seminar
Zambian Experience, Issues and
Constraints
Directorate of Policy and Planning
Ministry of Health
Presentation Layout
Health Reforms
 SWAps
 Basket Funding Mechanism
 MoU
Background
Benefits
Constraints
Next Steps
Concluding remarks
Health Sector Reforms
 The Health Sector in Zambia has been instrumental in
embracing Sector Wide Approach.
 During the late 80’s and early 90’s Zambia’s health
sector was characterized by several fragmented donor
projects
 Need to integrate all the vertical programmes into a
sectoral framework that would meet common national
goals and objectives.
 An MoU was developed between MoH and CPs and
was signed November 1999 and June 2006
respectively which was based on agreed SWAp
coordinating mechanisms for adherence.
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Health Sector Reforms
Four (4) main SWAp Co-ordinating meetings
are held every year (ACM, SAG, Policy and
TWG)
The SWAp increased the fiscal space in terms
of commitment from Cooperating partners
initially, and eventually Government also
increased its contribution to the sector.
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Background to ZUHWA
• Many Zambian health and health-related
academic institutions have “small scale”
partnerships (‘health links’) with individuals,
departments, organisations or NGOs in
Europe or North-America.
• Some Zambian institutions such as the
University Teaching Hospital, Chainama
College of Health Partnerships and St
Francis have multiple partnerships.
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Background to ZUHWA
• Although such partnerships are designed to bring
development benefits and learning to Zambian
institutions and to their European and North American
partners, they can also involve high transaction costs to
both Zambian and the overseas partners.
• Health partnerships come from a strong desire to help by
the European or North-American partner. They are often
based on individual initiatives and, in most cases,
personal relationships.
• Some partnerships are based on the acceptance of any
help offered rather than on a careful analysis of the
health needs, benefits, costs and value for money.
Partnerships can often be donor driven and not always
aligned to the strategic priorities of the Zambian Ministry
of Health
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Background to ZUHWA
•
In 2007 the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Tropical Health
and Education Trust, a UK based NGO, commissioned a mapping
report to find out the number, type and impact of international
partnerships across Zambia. The report found out that
– The majority of international health partnerships are concentrated
in Lusaka. (UTH over 24 and Chainama reported 14. Outside
Lusaka St Francis Hospital in Katete, had 25 links.
– Provincial Health Offices reported not links.
– 3 Central Hospitals, namely UTH, Chainama Hospital and Arthur
Davidson Children’s Hospital in Ndola had partnerships. (Ndola
and Arthur Davidson now had partnerships. Kitwe does not have
partnerships)
– 17 out of 74 district and 19 provincial hospitals had established
links of various kinds.
– 9 out of 21 health training institutions had links
– Statutory boards also had links.
– The work of these partnerships in only a few occasions supported
the needs of hard to reach rural areas
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Benefits
– Potential for exchanges involving staff at all
levels. Good for knowledge and skills
transfer
– Support for training and education plans:
teaching, curriculum development,
scholarships
– Development of distant learning facilities
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Constraints
– Lack of awareness and coordination among
different partnerships, at the institutional,
regional and national levels. This leads to
fragmentation and duplication.
– Limited alignment with national health plans
Next Steps
 Need to develop a framework for the promotion,
management, coordination and evaluation of such
partnerships
 Request
support
from
countries/collaborating
partners to help identify and engage with
partnerships between Zambian organisations and
their respective countries.
An example is the Zambia UK Health Workforce
Alliance, through which we can reach Zambian
and UK organisations working together to support
health initiatives in Zambia. At the moment there
over 45 organisations registered. Being part of
the Alliance allow them work with each other. For
example, a recent programme of work requires
collaboration and coordination between 8
organisations.
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Concluding remarks
• There is need to ensure that existing
and future links are more accountable
and contribute to the NHSP.
• Ministry has embarked on a Resource
Mapping exercise and the ZUHWA
seminar will provide some vital inputs.
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Thank You
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