Zambia Integrated Systems Strengthening Program Quarterly Report April - June 2012

The program is managed by Abt Associates, Inc. in collaboration with several international partners, including the American College of Nurse-Midwives, Akros Research Inc., Banyan Global, and the Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia. The project is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under contract GHH-I-00-07-00003. The program's primary objective is to strengthen the capacity of the Ministry of Health (MOH) to provide quality health services to the population. To achieve this goal, ZISSP has identified several key areas of focus, including human resources for health, family planning and adolescent health, emergency obstetric and neonatal care, child health, and malaria control. In the area of human resources for health, ZISSP is working to improve the capacity of the MOH to recruit, deploy, and retain essential health workers. This includes providing training and technical assistance to MOH staff on human resource management skills, as well as supporting the development of a national human resources for health strategy. In the area of family planning and adolescent health, ZISSP is working to strengthen the provision of long-term family planning services, community-based family planning services, and training of health providers in adolescent health. This includes providing technical assistance to MOH staff on family planning and adolescent health, as well as supporting the development of a national family planning and adolescent health strategy. In the area of emergency obstetric and neonatal care, ZISSP is working to strengthen the capacity of MOH staff to provide emergency obstetric and neonatal care services. This includes providing training and technical assistance to MOH staff on emergency obstetric and neonatal care, as well as supporting the development of a national emergency obstetric and neonatal care strategy. In the area of child health, ZISSP is working to strengthen the capacity of MOH staff to provide integrated management of childhood illnesses, expanded program on immunization, and capacity building to strengthen nutrition interventions and linkages. This includes providing technical assistance to MOH staff on child health, as well as supporting the development of a national child health strategy. In the area of malaria control, ZISSP is working to strengthen the capacity of MOH staff to control malaria through indoor residual spraying, training of health workers in malaria case management, and training of community health volunteers in community case management. This includes providing technical assistance to MOH staff on malaria control, as well as supporting the development of a national malaria control strategy. Overall, the ZISSP program is working to strengthen the capacity of the MOH to provide quality health services to the population, with a focus on improving human resources for health, family planning and adolescent health, emergency obstetric and neonatal care, child health, and malaria control.