The University Teaching Hospital’s (UTH) centre for prosthetics and orthotics, managed by the Ministry of Health (MoH), has intermittently received assistance from MoveAbility or the ICRC since 1996.
We have been supporting the St. John Paul II Mission Hospital (formerly known as the Zambian Italian Orthopedic Hospital ZIOH), since 2009.
Zambia ratified the UNCRPD in 2010. Local legislation for people with disabilities exists, but disability-related matters are not among the government’s public health priorities. The government has mandated the Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ZAPD) to provide and coordinate physical rehabilitation services, engage in advocacy efforts, and foster social and economic inclusion for people with disabilities (PwD).
The National Health Strategic Plan has been under review since June 2015. The ZAPD published a policy for disability in December 2015, which included budget estimates for related activities, though at year-end these had not yet been finalized.