Meet Misheck Simwatala, a 59-year-old resident of Mwapona Compound in Choma of Southern Province, a Tuberculosis (TB) survivor who emerged as a community champion to eradicate TB. In 2023, Misheck visited a health facility with a high fever and experienced chest pains, persistent coughing, extreme fatigue, night sweats, loss of appetite, weight loss, and an overall sense of unwellness. “Concerned, I sought medical attention at the hospital, where a sputum test revealed I had TB. Initially, I was utterly shocked by the diagnosis, as I had limited knowledge about TB,” he said. Simwatala said wit ..read more

After two years of working without a power backup system, Mukuni Rural Health Centre will now provide comprehensive health services even during power outages thanks to CIDRZ’s CDC-sponsored TRAILS project repair works. Mukuni Rural Health Centre’s sister in charge, Patience Kakinga, says several attempts have been made to repair the solar power backup system but were unsuccessful. She expressed her gratitude to CIDRZ for repairing the system, which she said would go a long way in bolstering service provision at the health facility. “Your coming has brought great joy because we can now provide ..read more

CIDRZ, in partnership with the Ministry of Health, successfully conducted onsite capacity strengthening sessions for medical equipment technicians in Southern Province to enhance their skills in the maintenance of Solar Power systems installed in Health Facilities across the province. Southern Province acting Provincial Equipment Officer Anderson Phiri was grateful for the onsite orientation program, stating that the capacity built in the facility technicians would facilitate ongoing corrective and preventive maintenance of the solar systems. Mr Phiri added that the onsite orientation by CIDRZ ..read more

Meet Sandra Musonda, 21, from Chipulukusu DREAMS Centre in Ndola, a beneficiary of the Vocational Skills Training (VST) program, supported by the @United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) through the Controlling HIV Epidemic for Key and Underserved Populations (CHEKUP) I initiative. Sandra says after finishing school in 2019, she could not pursue tertiary education due to financial constraints, leaving her feeling disheartened about her prospects. She explains that her breakthrough came when she b ..read more

Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) has hosted it’s first-ever Men’s Conference for its employees as a deliberate gesture of taking care of Men’s health and wellness. The hybrid conference, attended by about 250 CIDRZ male employees, gave them a safe space for open discussions on men’s topics and a getaway from the hustle and bustle of office life. Critical topics discussed ranged from spirituality, mental health, men’s health-seeking behaviours and reproductive health. In opening the Conference, CIDRZ Human Resource Director Mwansa Lombe said the concept of hosting a CIDR ..read more

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) is critical in health facilities to avoid transmission of diseases. However, IPC measures cannot be well executed without competently trained healthcare workers. Hence, the USAID Tuberculosis Local Organizations Network (TBLON) has trained 189 health workers in six districts across Northern and Muchinga Provinces in Tuberculosis (TB) infection prevention and control. The training aimed at equipping healthcare workers with essential knowledge and understanding of how to prevent the spread of TB in health facilities. One beneficiary of the IPC training was ..read more

After ten months of waiting, 13-year-old JT did not think justice would prevail in her sexual and gender-based violence case. However, in May 2023, justice was served, with a 58-year-old man sent to jail for 18 years for violently defiling JT on her way to a market to buy food. In August 2022, the USAID ECAP III program under CIDRZ, through its comprehensive family support approach, learned of JT’s defilement story, which left her traumatised while her parents living with HIV in Linda compound of Chilanga district in Lusaka province, struggled to pursue justice on the perpetrator. It all happe ..read more

The CIDRZ research team has joined other researchers from Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa and Zimbabwe, in conducting a three-year study which shall help tailor an HIV vaccine effective for people in the Sub-Sahara Africa region. The study is titled “cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTL) specificities and Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) class I allele associated with control of HIV”, and is earmarking to recruit approximately 3000 participants regionally, with Zambia contributing 800 participants.   Study lead, Professor Zaza Ndhlovu, from Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), noted that “By charact ..read more

The Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) hosted visitors from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to showcase its work with hard-to-reach populations in Zambian communities. The meeting exchanged best practices on how to strengthen comprehensive HIV services through social networks in eastern and southern Africa regions. CIDRZ supports community-based initiatives that provide HIV testing, prevention, and treatment services through differentiated service deli ..read more

The media in Zambia have been encouraged to advocate for enhanced Tuberculosis (TB) detection and treatment for the country to meet the global target of ending TB by 2030. Current statistics show Zambia as one of the world’s 30 high TB burden countries. At a quarterly media engagement meeting organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the CIDRZ’s USAID-funded TBLON project, Health Minister, Hon. Sylvia Masebo, disclosed that every year in Zambia, about 10,000 people with TB are not detected and hence not treated, leading to nearly 4,000 deaths annually. She said this in a speech ..read more