LUSAKA – The U.S. government, through its Agency for International Development (USAID),  donated five 4x4 vehicles on August 28 to the Ministry of Health with the goal of supporting increased capacity of the ministry to provide maternal and child health services in Southern, Muchinga, Eastern, Northern, and Luapula provinces.

The donated vehicles will help the Health Ministry access hard-to-reach and underserved areas, and provide support where inadequate transportation remains a barrier to providing quality health care services.  The vehicles were part of the USAID Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP), which culminated in March 2019.  MCSP provided Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent Health, and Nutrition policy and governance support to the ministry, while building the capacity of health care providers in service delivery and improving infrastructure.

“The donation of the project’s vehicles to the Ministry of Health will help bridge this gap, and will facilitate sustained administration, supervision, and monitoring of maternal and child activities,” said Dr. Masuka Musumali, USAID’s Acting Family Health Division Chief.

The U.S. government provides $26 million annually to strengthen women’s health service integration, increase the number of babies delivered in health facilities, and improve the quality of care for mothers and their children.  Due in large part to this assistance, the maternal mortality rate has decreased from 398 to 278 per 100,000 live births, and under-five child mortality has dropped from 7.5 percent to 6.1 percent of live births, according to the 2018 Zambian Demographic Health Survey.

The U.S. government values its continued close partnership with the Zambian government to achieve even greater progress towards improving maternal and child health. 

For more information about this press release, please contact the U.S. Embassy Zambia Press Office at ZambiaPress@state.gov.

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