The Government of the Republic of Zambia Launches Two Landmark Health Initiatives to Strengthen Primary Health Care and Immunization Equity

MWALUMINA Rural Health Center, Chongwe District, Lusaka Province, 24 August 2025---The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ), through the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) today officially launched two groundbreaking initiatives designed to strengthen health systems, advance equitable access to vaccines, and improve primary health care delivery across the country.

The launch event was presided over by the Honourable Minister of Health Dr. Elijah Muchima (MP), the Chief Executive Officer of Gavi Dr. Sania Nishtar, and the UNICEF Country Representative, representing the United Nations in Zambia, Dr. Nejmudin Kedir Bilal. District health leadership, community members, and key implementing partners also attended the ceremony.

"These initiatives improve the way Zambia delivers health care. By bringing sustainable power to our rural health facilities and ensuring vaccines and essential medicines reach every child, we are investing in healthier communities and a stronger health system,” said Dr. Elijah Muchima (MP).

Under the slogan “Powering Health, Empowering Communities,” Gavi’s Health Facility Solar Electrification (HFSE) project aims at transforming the health sector, solarizing health facilities in rural Zambia. With funding from Gavi and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Health, UNICEF and WHO, this initiative brings reliable, clean energy to health facilities that have long operated without or with limited access to electricity.

“The launch of Zambia’s solar electrification project, bringing clean energy to 250 health facilities and reaching 1.3 million people, alongside the DRIVE initiative in 41 districts, is a turning point for health equity,” said Dr. Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi. “These efforts will light up maternity wards, keep vaccines safe, and deliver care to the hardest-to-reach communities. They will also create over 200 jobs, showing how smart health investments can uplift lives and livelihoods. Zambia is showing what leadership looks like.”

With a commitment of approximately $28million in funding, the HFSE initiative will deploy 5-8kWp solar photovoltaic systems and cold chain equipment (CCE) in 1277 health facilities across four countries: Zambia, Ethiopia, Pakistan and Uganda. Gavi has contributed significantly to the rollout of solar-powered cold chain equipment through the Cold Chain Equipment Optimization Platform (CCEOP). However, fridges alone aren’t enough. This pilot tests whether that model can be scaled to fully solarize health facilities by powering lights, equipment, and digital tools. If successful, it could unlock co-investment and long-term government support for maintenance, ensuring sustainability.

In Zambia, 250 health facilities in 95 districts will be electrified under the HFSE project, prioritizing off-grid facilities that provide maternity services and serve remote communities. This will ensure safe storage of vaccines and medicines, enable critical diagnostic and medical equipment, improve working conditions for health professionals and strengthen resilience and equity in primary health care services.

By June 2026, once the project is complete, an estimated 25million people living in the catchment areas of the newly solarized health facilities will benefit from an increased range of services such as expanded access to immunization services and availability of clean water. This includes 1.3million people in Zambia.

New innovative approach to improving vaccine delivery

Zambia has made great strides in immunization over the past decade. Today, more than 90 per cent of children receive the full set of DTP 3 vaccines. But challenges remain. Some districts still lag behind, and the way vaccines and supplies are distributed within the country is one of the weakest parts of the system. This often leads to shortages or near shortages in many health facilities.

The Direct delivery of Routine Immunization Vaccines for Equity (DRIVE) Initiative is a new and innovative approach to improving vaccine delivery in Zambia. It is a social enterprise approach, involving engaging community-based volunteers, young people, and others at the local level to help deliver vaccines and health commodities directly to health facilities and outreach sites. These delivery partners will work up to 10 days in a month transporting vaccines and other PHC commodities, and for the rest of the month, they will use the same transport asset to earn income through revenue-generating activities—helping them support themselves, their households and to maintain the vehicles, whist expanding transport options within the local economy.

The initiative will directly reduce the travelling time spent by health workers to districts to pick up vaccines, unlocking an additional 600 hours of service delivery sessions monthly. DRIVE will prioritize an initial 1273 health facilities in 41 districts, empowering 200 young people and impacting many more livelihoods. The selected facilities represent 74% of Zambia’s zero dose population, thus by ensuring that vaccines and other essential health commodities reach every health facility reliably and on time and by helping health workers get to outreach sites without delays, DRIVE is directly contributing to equitable healthcare delivery.

With this launch, Zambia joins other countries where the DRIVE initiative is already transforming last-mile delivery including; Malawi, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and The Gambia - cumulatively providing on-demand deliveries to more than 6000 facilities.

“The two initiatives we are launching today work hand in hand to strengthen our health system. By bringing vaccines and supplies directly to health centres and providing clean, reliable energy, we are making healthcare more accessible and consistent. These efforts support health workers, create jobs, build community ownership, and help us adapt to climate challenges,” explained Dr. Nejmudin Kedir Bilal, UNICEF Zambia Representative a.i.

Both HFSE and DRIVE directly support Zambia’s progress towards the Immunization Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ensuring no child or community is left behind in the journey towards universal health coverage.