18TH APRIL 2023
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am greatly honoured to grace this occasion where we are launching four policy documents in reproductive Health; the Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) for family planning 2021 – 2026, the 2030 Family Planning Commitments for Zambia, the RMNCAH&N road map 2022 – 2026 and the investment case for RMNCAH&N 2022 -2024. These four documents are critical to the implementation of safe-motherhood with a view to improve both maternal and new-born outcomes.
As you may be aware, Family Planning is a high impact intervention for both improved Health outcomes and economic prosperity for the Country.
The Government of the Republic of Zambia (GRZ) has prioritised Family Planning partnerships from inception in 2012 and aspires to continue building on and sustaining the gains achieved.
One notable step that government has undertaken is aligning all national Health policies that are reflected in the current National Health Strategic plan to the global and regional commitments. In our realisation of the population policy, the government of the Republic of Zambia, through the leadership of His Excellency the Republican President, Mr Hakainde Hichilema, is focused on harnessing the demographic dividends from a large population of young people as espoused in the African Union 2030 and 2063 agenda.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Zambia has developed an Integrated Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) for family planning that spans between the years 2021 to 2026. In this plan, Ministry of Health intends to increase the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) from the current 49% to 80% by the year 2026. This plan is, therefore, an important tool for national development planning and it will be critical for implementation of our national population policy that is expected to begin seeing our Country start to reap the benefits that come with growing a population in an organised way.
On the other hand, the 2030 Commitments for Family Planning is an accountability tool to show how committed the Government of the Republic of Zambia is, to the just cause of Family Planning.
The four documents being launched today are a result of the consistent commitment of the Government of Zambia and its Cooperating Partners that have produced a well-coordinated Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) service delivery platform.
The RMNCAH&N road map 2022 -2026 unveils a strategic direction for Reproductive Maternal and Child health in line with the National Health Strategic plan while the investment case is an intense plan to accelerate improvement of maternal and child health outcomes.
The four strategic documents present various opportunities for the Health sector to look beyond what has already been achieved in safe motherhood and the family planning program. The onus remains on each and every one working in the Reproductive Health space to seize every opportunity that these policy documents present through the various strategies detailed in the documents.
Ladies and Gentlemen
The correct implementation of these policy documents in a well-coordinated manner, will accelerate actions to scale up interventions that will, further, reduce the unmet need for family planning from the current 21% to less than 10% by 2026 and contribute to the attainment of the targets set for health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Overall, Ministry of Health aspires to reduce Maternal Mortality Ratio from the current 252 per 100, 000 live births to less than 100 per 100, 000 live births and under-five Mortality rate from the current 41 per 1000 live births to less than 25 per 1000 live births by 2026.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am proud to inform you that the New Dawn Government has prioritised Health for all people living in Zambia and this commitment is showed by the increase in the double budgetary allocation to the Health Sector. Funding for Family Planning Commodity-procurement as well as service delivery has also increased by more than twice. This is all in a quest to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) for Reproductive Health.
Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This plan is also intended to quicken the pace at which Zambia shall realise what has already been endorsed in our National Health Strategic Plan 2022 – 2026. We remain steady fast on the following key areas;
- Strengthen access to Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Services prioritizing reduction of teenage pregnancy and elimination of child marriage by 2030.
- Eliminate un-met need for Family Planning.
- Ensure availability of bundled vaccines and cold chain equipment to implement an equity focused immunization programme, reaching every child by 2030.
- Strengthen the Human Resource for Health Capacity to meet the Country’s demand for equitable and sustainable skilled health attendants; and fostering community participation, including a sustainable Community Health Work-force to take the services to the last mile.
- Ensure increased minimum allocation of the Health Sector budget for Reproductive Maternal, New Born, Child and Adolescent Health.
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is now my singular honour and privilege to officially launch the CIP 2021-2026, the Family Planning 2030 Commitments, the road map for RMNCAH&N 2022 – 2026 and the investment case for RMNCAH&N 2022 – 2024 to facilitate the implementation of the Reproductive Health program in Zambia.