Zambia National Health Strategic Plan 2011- 2015.

Zambia National Health Strategic Plan 2011- 2015 is a cross-sectoral national plan that seeks to provide equitable access to cost effective, quality health services as close to the family as possible to the people of Zambia.
The policy recognizes that food safety and environmental health are among the national public health priorities. By focusing on food safety, the policy seeks to enable more inclusive and efficient food systems. To promote and improve hygiene and universal access to safe and adequate water, food safety, and acceptable sanitation, the key strategies will be to: promote establishment of new and strengthening of existing Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education (WASHE) Committees at national, provincial, district and sub-district levels; Institutionalise Food Safety Protocols of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System (HACCP); Promote the provision of appropriate and suitable water and sanitation facilities in peri-urban and rural areas; Strengthen national health care waste management at all levels of care; Strengthen training and capacity building in environmental health; and Strengthen internal and multi-sector coordination and management of environmental health at all levels of care.
Another objective of the strategy is to significantly improve the nutritional status of Zambian population particularly for children, adolescents and women in child bearing age. To this end, the key strategies will be to strengthen nutrition service delivery in HIV/AIDS and TB programmes and activities; strengthen implementation of infant and young child feeding programme; promote maternal nutrition in pregnancy and during lactation; provide support to micronutrient deficiency prevention and control (supplementation); provide quality dietary, including food aid management services and information to in- and out patients; strengthen use of Growth Monitoring and Promotion to improve nutrition interventions; capacity building in Nutrition Advocacy and technical support and supervision; scale-up public awareness and education on the importance of nutrition; and strengthen national and multi-sector coordination of nutrition programmes.
Further, as part of the primary care services efforts will focus on scaling up and sustaining high impact nutrition interventions including vitamin A supplementation, iron-folate supplements, iodations of salt, infant and young child feeding, and strengthening key interventions such as school health and nutrition programmes, SAFE strategy, community Mass Drug Administration to address Neglected Tropical Diseases.
Regarding governance, the plan will be implemented through the existing health sector institutional and coordinating framework. Ministry of Health will take the overall responsibility for coordinating and ensuring implementation. However, several other players will be involved in its implementation, including other line ministries and government departments, Churches Health Association of Zambia, private sector, traditional and alternative medicines sector, civil society/communities, and the cooperating partners.A Monitoring and Evaluation Sub-Committee will be responsible for providing advice on all matters concerning monitoring and evaluation. There will be two evaluations during the duration of each NHSP developed under this plan. These will consist of a mid-term assessment after the first 2.5 years of implementation and a comprehensive final evaluation at the end of the duration.