At a glance
CDC works with partners in Zambia to build sustainable public health capacity, strengthen laboratory systems and surveillance networks, deliver high-quality HIV and TB diagnostic, treatment, and prevention services, and respond swiftly to disease outbreaks at their source, preventing health threats from reaching the U.S.
Strategic focus
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) office in Zambia has a long-standing partnership with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and its provincial health offices. For 25 years, CDC has supported the MOH to scale up HIV treatment and prevention programs to strengthen the HIV response.
CDC focuses on increasing access to evidence-based prevention, expanding case identification and linkage for pediatrics, young people, and people at increased risk for HIV infection, and improving HIV services. Additionally, CDC leverages the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) platform and its unique Government-to-Government model to build capacity for local institutions to prevent, detect, and respond to existing and emerging public health threats.
Read more about CDC's most recent key activities and accomplishments below.
Building public health capacity
- Supported the implementation of the SmartCare National Electronic Health Record system in over 1,600 high-volume health facilities nationwide with over 2 million enrolled. This enabled facilities to provide care for over 90 percent of people living with HIV (PLHIV).
- The system features biometric functionality for unique patient identification, allowing data exchange with laboratory and logistics management information systems to create a comprehensive patient record.
- Data from SmartCare, logistics, laboratory, human resources, and health information systems were fed into the national data warehouse for data analysis and visualization.
Strengthening laboratory systems and networks
- Sustained laboratory diagnostic testing capacity for 24 viral load laboratories, more than 250 point-of-care testing platforms, and over 200 hub facilities. The lab network is supported by an integrated sample referral system with the capacity for on-demand courier, digital sample tracking and return of results.
- Helped the MOH achieve high test results by building a quality assurance coordination unit with quality management system implementation at all levels of labs – 16 central testing facilities meet the international ISO 15189 quality standard.
- Supported external quality assurance panels for routine HIV and tuberculosis (TB) testing.
- Scaled up point-of-care testing to enhance the identification and treatment of patients with advanced HIV disease.
- Implemented a national multi-pathogen diagnostics program to allow diagnoses of complex co-infections
HIV prevention and treatment
- Implemented a data-driven strategy to close the gaps for children, adolescents, young people, and people at greater risk for HIV across the entire cascade and continuum of care.
- Supported Zambia in making progress to identifying 98 percent (1,295,030) of PLHIV were on antiretroviral therapy (ART) in FY2024. Amongst people on ART, 97 percent were virally suppressed.
- Supported Zambia in making progress to identify 88% of children living with HIV know their status and were on ART. Amongst people on ART, 95 percent were virally suppressed in FY2024.
- Supported the implementation of evidence-based HIV programs to reduce new HIV infections and HIV-related deaths in Lusaka, Southern, Eastern, Western, and Northwestern Provinces. Strategies included enhancing advanced HIV care, differentiated service delivery models, targeted case-finding, various testing applications, patient retention treatment strategies, and HIV viral load literacy promotion.
Tuberculosis prevention and treatment
- Integrated HIV and TB case management, including bidirectional HIV and TB case finding, and TB treatment services with infection prevention and control measures.
- Supported the MOH and implementing partners to find, treat, and prevent TB among PLHIV by expanding access to better TB screening, contact tracing, and support for diagnostics.
- With CDC support, today 95 percent of all PLHIV have been screened for TB, 97 percent of the PLHIV have completed a course of TB preventive treatment, and 99 percent of all TB notifications had an HIV status as of April 2024. These efforts have resulted in a significant decline in HIV-associated TB from 71 percent at the peak of the HIV pandemic to 32 percent.
- Improved the quality of TB screening by supporting four provinces with the procurement of digital X-rays and piloting of a novel screening approach called Targeted Universal TB Testing among eligible PLHIV.
By the numbers
HIV
Estimated HIV Prevalence (Ages 15-49)
9.8% (2023)
Estimated HIV Deaths (Age≥15)
Reported Number Receiving Antiretroviral Therapy (Age≥15)
TB
Estimated TB Incidence
283/100,000 (2023)
32% (2023)
TB Treatment Success Rate
93% (2022)