The WHO Representative, Dr. Olusegun Babaniyi conducted a familiarisation tour of the Lusaka Apex Medical University (LAMU) on Tuesday 16th July, 2013. During this visit, a donation was made to the school which included a reconditioned Toyota land cruiser Prado, a desktop computer and a Blue Trunk Library containing reference books on various health topics.

The donation to Lusaka Apex Medical University was intended to facilitate the smooth running of the institution in its quest to attain its objectives of increasing the numbers of health professionals in the country.

Zambia is one of the countries in the African Region facing a serious shortage of Human Resources for Health in both rural and urban areas. This situation is compounded by inequitable distribution of existing health workers.

In his statement at the handover ceremony, Dr. Babaniyi stated that Zambia was facing a double burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases which could only be addressed with the existence of adequately trained human resources for health.

He said that supporting the development of Human Resources for Health was one of WHO's Core functions and that WHO was committed to supporting government in order to improve the delivery of health services in the country. Dr. Babaniyi also stated that Human Resources for Health was a priority area in the WHO/Zambia Country Cooperation Strategy (CCS) 2008-2015 and that it was in harmony with the Millennium Development Goals.

The Vice Chancellor Professor Munkonge welcomed the WHO Representative Dr. Olusegun Babaniyi and the staff from the WHO Country Office to LAMU and expressed gratitude for the gesture and support WHO was making to the University.

The Dean of Students at LAMU, Professor Everiste Njelesani thanked WHO for supporting LAMU. He stated that the role of WHO was to support countries in strengthening health systems and that the development of human resources for health was a priority for Zambia because the country continued to face the vexing question of inadequate human resources.

The Lusaka Apex Medical University is a recently established institution. It is a Centre of Excellence in medical, nursing and health sciences education, research and specialised clinical care. Its aim is to contribute to the global supply of highly qualified health professionals with emphasis on Zambia and Southern Africa. It provides an affordable route for health and medical education for those young men and women who want to become doctors/medical specialists and other health professions.

The University also supports quality research work in the medical field to support the country's fight against the double burden of diseases with a major focus on communicable diseases, such as malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as hypertension, diabetes and cancer which are major drivers of the disease burden on the African Continent. It also aims to work with the private sector and other public institutions to strategise and rationalise the health sector in Zambia in order that the country extracts as much benefit from both the human resource and nonhuman resources available in the country.

The current National Human Resources for Health Strategic Plan covering the period 2011-2015 articulates a clear, feasible, affordable and coherent roadmap for redressing the situation of the health workforce and offers a framework for action.

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For more information contact :

Nora Mweemba, Health Information and promotion officer.
GPN Number 37609, Mobile 097873976,
E-mail: mweemban [at] zm.afro.who.int
Tel No: 00-260-211-255 398 / 255 336 / 255 322
Fax: 00-260-211-252863