Spotlight Story: King’s Zambia Partnership

Project overview

Country: Zambia    Region: Ndola & Livingstone

Partner: King’s Global Health Partnerships and Institute of Cancer Policy, King’s College London

King’ Global Health Partnerships and Institute of Cancer Policy, King’s College London  – an integrated approach to improving women’s health in tertiary centres in Livingstone and Ndola.

Zambia has one of the highest incidences of cervical cancer in the world. Cases of breast cancer, the leading cause of cancer mortality in the country, are also increasing in number. Alongside upgrading the Cancer Disease Hospital in the capital, Lusaka, Zambia’s National Cancer Control Strategic Plan (NCCSP) includes the building of new comprehensive cancer centres in the north (Ndola) and the west (Livingstone) of the country. The vision is that these integrated services will allow women in each area to receive treatment at a local facility, rather than incurring the costs and challenges of travelling to the capital. The new and expanded facilities will be able to manage an anticipated 9,000 additional patients each year.

As construction of the new cancer centres progress, surgeons at the provincial hospitals have partnered with King’s College London’s support to develop their skills, capability, and numbers to ensure readiness of a workforce to take on the new responsibilities.

Kings’ Global Health Partnerships (KGHP) and the Insititute of Cancer Policy (ICP) at King’s College London (KCL) are working with the existing tertiary hospitals in Ndola and Livingstone to extend their current training platforms and strengthen surgical services for women’s cancers. KCL has worked with partners in Ndola and Livingstone to assess services and capabilities, and is compiling recommendations for the development of a package of cancer services in line with those provided in the capital.

 

Reported Outcomes

Improved co-ordination and collaboration within the Healthcare sector

• Site visits occurred in Lusaka, Ndola and Livingstone, including meetings with the Ministry of Health and NCCSP committee. A total of 52 Zambian health workers, from all cancer disciplines, engaged across the three sites.
• Workshops with the healthcare workforce occurred, leading to i) the co-creation of an oncology surgery education and training plan, and ii) recommendations for regular virtual multidisciplinary team meetings between the three sites.
• A survey on multidisciplinary team engagement virtually and in-person was conducted with 40 healthcare workers in preparation for a dedicated workshop on workforce planning held in Ndola in January 2024.
• This 2-day workshop in Ndola considered the human capital, infrastructure and equipment needs to ensure the efficient functioning of the expanded cancer services. The workshop was attended by 35 Zambian health workers, along with 7 attendees from King’s College London, UK and 8 from MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas, US.
• A final report of the project’s findings is in preparation, anticipated to be provided to the Zambia Ministry of Health later in 2024. This will list the recommendations for human personal, infrastructure and equipment for the new and expanded cancer centres to ensure they can meet the needs of the communicates they serve. 

Partners Involved

• Zambia Ministry of Health
• MD Anderson Cancer Centre
• Teal Sisters
• Zambia Cancer Society 
• Zambia Support Network
• Individual health workers from the disciplines of Cancer Control and the three locations of Lusaka, Livingstone and Ndola

MAT-GLB-2304595 (v5.0) March 2025