Promoting Excellence in Eye Health
Eye
Health in
Zambia
Zambia has witnessed a huge investment in Eye Health infrastructure. Its estimated that over USD 2,000,000 has been invested in Eye Health infrastructure in the past 3 years alone. Most notable has been the constructions and refurbishments of specialised units at the University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka Province, Lewanika General Hospital in Western Province and Kitwe Central Hospital in the Copperbelt Province.
Western Province Zambia
Western Province Zambia
Investing in Human Resource for Eye Health Zambia has now launched the Master of Medicine in Ophthalmology program under the University of Zambia. The Chainama College of Health Sciences runs a Diploma in Optometry and an Ophthalmic clinical officers / nurses Program.
Vibrant Partnerships and collerborations Zambia has mobilised a strong contigent of partnerships to support and enhance the Eye Health fraternity.
Currently, provision of eye care services is mainly done at provincial and tertiary centres namely University Teaching Hospital (UTH) , Kitwe Central Hospital (KCH), Lewanika General Hospital (LGH), Mansa General Hospital (MGH), Kasama General Hospital (KGH),Kabwe General Hospital (KGH) and Livingstone General Hospital (LGH). The existing eye care outreach programmes are inadequate and confined to selected parts of the country. The eye health services must certainly be extended to the primary health care level.
The service providers also include private eye centres such as Beverly Eye Centre, the Mining Conglomerate, Vision Care Appasamy and mission hospitals such as St. Francis Hospital, Lusaka Eye Hospital (LEH), Mwami Adventist Hospital and Chikankata Salvation Army Hospital.
The Non-Governmental Organisations such as Cheshire, CBM, Lions Club, Lions Aid Norway (LAN), Operation Eyesight Universal (OEU), Sightsavers and Geneva Global (GG) have also been providing financial and technical support to complement government efforts, and have since contributed to implementation of full-fledged eye health programmes in various parts of the country.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has committed itself to the provision of clean, caring and competent eye health services across the country by buying equipment/instruments, medical/surgical consummables and supporting training of personnel at different levels of Eye Health Care. It also provides an enabling environment for the various partners to work in. The MoH has further committed to introducing Eye Health Services at primary health institutions such as district hospitals and health centres.
Overview
Proactive Policy Framework Zambia has seen various policy shifts and milestones in the Eye Health sector. Most recently, the sector has seen the ratification of the 2012 - 2015 Eye Health Strategic Plan (ZEHSP) Safe strategy Implementation Framework (SSIF) The Zambia goverment has invested huge resources in the purchase of specialised Eye Health equipment.
On track in eliminating Trachoma Zambia is one of the few Trachoma endemic countries which have carried out a country wide mapping of Trachoma. Zambia will this year implement its second round of the Mass Drug Administration exercise for the treatment of active Trachoma.