Access to Health Zambia (A2HealthZ) is a member of the CMMB Community, a faith-based local nongovernmental organization (NGO) which previously operated from 1965 to 2019 as Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB), and has been a PEPFAR partner since 2004, serving as both a prime partner and a subrecipient.
As a partner in the faith-based project AIDSRelief (2004–2012), one of PEPFAR’s first major multi country projects, A2HealthZ developed a legacy of accurate and timely data use, and evidence-based decision-making, exceeding what many thought was possible in the resource-constrained localities in Zambia where it was implemented.
Men Taking Action™(MTA), a project implemented from 2006–2010, engaged men as champions to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV at a time when men’s power to effect social acceptance of HIV services was just being discovered. This approach worked well to combat harmful social norms, and under the follow-on project Zambia-Led Prevention Initiative (ZPI; 2011–2014), traditional and community leaders were trained using this approach. Subsequently, the model was used to combat gender-based violence (GBV) – a major driver of HIV infection—and helped significantly reduce GBV in Zambia.
Photo Caption: Men participate in an activity as part of Coaching Boys into Men, in an effort to combat harmful social norms in Zambia. Credit: A2HealthZ
Our subsequent work reflected the growing body of understanding of how to best prevent, mitigate and care for HIV infection. We joined with hundreds of other implementing partners to contribute to that knowledge, particularly focusing on creating demand for health facility services by community members.
In little more than a decade since PEPFAR’s inauguration, the global HIV community focused on those not yet reached. Under the Zambia Community HIV Prevention Program (Z-CHPP; 2016–2021), with Pact Inc., we were aiming to boost uptake of high-impact HIV services and protective behaviors, especially among key and priority populations. We also worked with adolescent girls and young women—whom are disproportionately affected by HIV—to discourage risky behaviors while strengthening factors protecting them from HIV, implementing the multilayer DREAMS initiative (Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS-Free, Mentored, and Safe) in 15 DREAMS centers.
Photo caption: With USAID support, A2HealthZ provides economic livelihood support for households with children living with HIV. Credit: A2HealthZ
Most recently, we have built on activities supporting orphans and vulnerable children (OVC), first initiated in 2013 under the Luapula Foundation–led Community Rising and as a sub partner to UNICEF in the SEEVCA (Service Efficiency and Effectiveness for Vulnerable Children and Adolescents) through the ongoing USAID Empowered Children and Adolescents Program 1 (USAID ECAP1), mitigating HIV’s impact on vulnerable children and adolescents and improving their health and well-being by delivering high-impact, evidence-based, age-appropriate interventions with a customized, case management and family-centered approach. We ensure that children are healthy, stable, safe, and schooled—improving access to health and HIV services (including HIV testing); access to household economic security and linkages to social protection; access to child protection and gender-based-violence prevention services; and access to services to strengthen school retention and progression.
“Having experienced the devastating impact of AIDS, personally and nationally, PEPFAR’s work has reversed the course of the HIV epidemic in Zambia. With the advent of antiretroviral treatment, people are living vibrant, long lives, enough to reduce numbers orphaned by the pandemic! Access to Health Zambia is honored to have played a part in this effort. Continuing to work together, we are confident that epidemic control is in sight.” - Batuke Walusiku-Mwewa, Country Director, Access to Health Zambia
Our projects and programs have spanned not only GBV prevention and response, HIV prevention, care, and treatment support (including voluntary medical male circumcision), but also maternal and child health; water, sanitation, and hygiene; neonatal asphyxia; and Malaria prevention. A2HealthZ also addresses health, nutrition, and child protection issues for children with disabilities, vulnerable children and adolescents, and their families.
In our early days, our organizational focus was on distributing medical donations through the Ministry of Health. Today, A2HealthZ has worked in all 10 Zambian provinces and has a robust program not only of HIV programming but also of community health systems toward decreasing maternal morbidity and mortality in last-mile localities. We work closely with the Ministry of Health's national, provincial, and district health offices in alignment with government goals and toward our organizational vision of a world in which every human life is valued and health and human dignity are shared by all.