Zambia’s COVID-19 Resiliency: An Interview with the US Embassy

“The last thing we want is for the gains that Zambia has made in child and maternal health to be reversed by the COVID-19 epidemic.”

This was one of many topics Dr. Muka Chikuba-McLeod, Project Director of the USAID Zambia DISCOVER-Health, addressed in a wide-ranging conversation with US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires David Young in a Facebook Live interview. They discussed how the US and Zambia have been working together to improve and save lives and how they’ve quickly adapted their work to respond to COVID-19.

With funding from USAID, the DISCOVER-Health project works with the Zambian government to provide access to services and products for HIV control, reproductive health, family planning, and maternal and child health. Our work predates COVID-19, but the rapid response has directed funds to support patient care, behavior change, and procurement of essential health commodities for distribution across the country.

They also discussed the role that adolescents have played in the fight against HIV, and how they can be empowered as agents of change during this pandemic as well. “If young people can do their part in learning as much as they can about COVID-19, we can come out of this with a clearer understanding of the importance of health behaviors,” said Dr. Chikuba-McLeod. “That will be the silver lining of this COVID-19 tragedy. Our youths will be more health-conscious and we will have a healthier nation in the future.”