Healthcare in rural Zambia

Zambia is currently ranked 141 of 187 countries on the Human Development Index, making it one of the world’s least developed countries. A large and geographically dispersed population means only half of Zambians living in rural areas have medical facilities within 5km, and poor roads and a long rainy season make these few facilities even harder to reach. A national healthcare workforce crisis means that health worker density in rural Zambia is 12.2 per 10,000 compared with 22.8 minimum target set by WHO in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage.

From our base in Livingstone, and our office in Sesheke, On Call Africa worked in five rural health facilities in Zambia’s Southern Province and twenty rural healthcare facilities in Western Province in 2022. We partnered with the District Health Offices in Zimba, Kazungula, Sesheke and Mwandi District to identify the localities which would most benefit from our services, and worked with the the facility staff and communities to co-design programmes. Having completed planned work in Western Province, we are focusing our efforts on expanding our reach in Southern Province in 2023.

Our volunteering opportunities in Zambia:

OCA has worked in Zambia since 2010 and the way we involve volunteers has evolved over that time. Our new focus is to provide sustainable solutions through health system strengthening.

OCA works with skilled international volunteer doctors who add significant value to our work in Zambia. We want to harness volunteers’ knowledge to demonstrate impact and create sustainable change.

Volunteers will receive a full pre-departure training as well as an in-country induction.

Ongoing support is important to us. That is why we offer regular supervision meetings as well as planning meetings.

At the end of the placement, we also support volunteers with their resettlement back home and offer them to be part of the Alumni Network.

Volunteer Doctors

International Volunteer Doctors support the work of OCA in rural healthcare facilities through clinical work, capacity building and quality improvement activities. Doctors can get involved if they have completed FY2 and have an interest in gaining experience of working within a low-resource rural health system, and of co-producing quality improvement projects.

GPs, trainee GPs and FY2 doctors are the ideal fit for OCA, because the organisation takes a holistic approach to strengthening primary care facilities, and GPs and FY2 doctors are uniquely placed to bring relevant expertise.

Primary care placements in low resource health systems can enhance learning and create an environment for valuable reciprocal learning.

Requirements

A medical qualification (MBBCH, MBCHB, MBBS, BM or equivalent)
A current medical license to practice from country of origin
Completion of foundation year two (FY2) prior to departure

Costs and time commitment: We ask volunteers to commit to ideally 3 to 4 months of volunteering. We provide volunteers with logistical support, accommodation on-site and in the community as well as airport pick-up from Livingstone. To cover our costs we ask for a contribution of: £1,500 for 3 months

For more information, or to explore how you can get involved please contact Kasonde on: kasonde@oncallafrica.org