National Health Strategic Plan (NHSP) 2017-2021.

This National Health Strategic Plan is a 5-year nationwide sectoral document aiming to (i) provide guidance on all health interventions in the health sector; and (ii) specify the roles and responsibilities that all actors involved in the health sector will have to perform, the implementation challenges that have to be overcome, the monitoring and evaluation required, and the financial resources needed to enable the plan to be successfully implemented. Overall goal of the Plan is to improve the health status of people in Zambia in order to contribute to increased productivity and socio-economic development through providing equitable access to cost effective, quality health services as close to the family as possible. NHSP main strategic goals are (i) to have empowered communities taking responsibility for improving their own health status through community health interventions; (ii) reduce Maternal Mortality Ratio; (iii) reduce the under-five mortality rate; (iv) reduce under and over nutrition and improve clinical nutrition; (v) improve the health status of adolescents; (vi) eliminate local malaria infection and disease; (vii) reduce the incidence and prevalence of HIV; (viii) halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) by increasing access to quality interventions; (ix) reduce the number of TB deaths in the population by 40%; (x) reduce the impact of viral hepatitis on people, society and the economy; (xi) to have a Zambia free of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs); (xii) strengthen routine, community-based, and facility-based surveillance systems for improved public health decision making and action; (xiii) strengthen capacities to effectively and efficiently implement preparedness and response to emergencies; (xiv) reduce the morbidity and mortality due to non-communicable diseases; (xv) achieve Universal Health Coverage through safe, affordable, accessible, and timely hospital services; (xvi) provide adequate emergency and mobile health service in a timely manner; (xvii) ensure availability of adequate supplies of safe blood and blood products; (xviii) ensure availability of safe, adequate, quality, efficacious, and affordable essential medicines and medical supplies; and (xix) build and rehabilitate health facilities in order to facilitate equity of access to quality health services.
To help eliminate hunger and food insecurity, this NHSP focuses on (i) strengthening promotion of breastfeeding; (ii) strengthening the School Health and Nutrition Programme; (iii) scaling up infant and young child feeding services; (iv) increasing access and utilization of high-impact nutrition-specific interventions, such as child nutrition, integrated management of acute malnutrition (IMAM), micro-nutrient deficiency control, nutrition in HIV, and clinical nutrition and dietetics; (v) strengthening integration of nutrition in other key health sector interventions; (vi) providing appropriate shelters to facilitate delivery of a minimum package of high-impact nutrition interventions at facility and community zones; and (vii) supporting research and development of innovations and technologies that enhance implementation of child health and nutrition interventions.
To face poverty in rural areas, health interventions will aim to provide mobile health services to people in hard-to-reach rural and remote parts of Zambia.
To enable more inclusive and efficient food systems, the Strategic Plan envisages to strengthen community involvement in maternal newborn and child health (MNCH) and nutrition services.
In order to increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters, main interventions will be directed to (i) enhance resilience and empowerment of the community in health emergencies, public health effects, and consequences of disasters and climate change impacts; (ii) strengthen and sustain the capacity to prepare for and prevent health emergencies, including development of mechanisms for monitoring AMR; and (iii) strengthen the capacity to promptly detect, report, and confirm outbreaks.