China Steps In to Boost Zambia’s Health Sector
LUSAKA – May 23, 2025 Zambia has entered a new phase of healthcare diplomacy as China pledges deeper collaboration to help the nation strengthen its health systems, especially in the wake of reduced Western donor support. A delegation from Sichuan Province, led by senior medical experts, arrived in Lusaka to explore traditional and modern healthcare integration strategies.
Minister of Health Dr. Joseph Katema Muchima welcomed the Chinese delegation and commended the long-standing Zambia-China friendship. He emphasized the country’s openness to new approaches that can strengthen primary healthcare and reduce reliance on imported pharmaceuticals.
“We are open to learning how to incorporate Chinese medicine into our health system to reduce the disease burden and improve pharmaceutical supply chains,” said Dr. Muchima.
The visit comes after the withdrawal of major foreign health funding, including HIV/AIDS support under PEPFAR. China’s move signals a shift in global health partnerships toward more South-South cooperation.
During the meetings, Chinese health officials proposed collaborative efforts on herbal medicine research, local production of essential drugs, and infrastructure upgrades in underserved districts. The Ministry confirmed that exchanges with medical universities in China are planned to help upgrade the skills of Zambian professionals.
Traditional leaders and local medical practitioners also voiced support, urging the government to expand community health models that combine indigenous knowledge with modern science.
The Ministry of Health and the Chinese Embassy have committed to drafting a formal cooperation framework in the coming months.
Keep your guards up; there’s nothing like a free lunch.
No wonder we remain poor…always hoping for someone to step in….like seriously….60 years after independence we can’t sustain ourselves….and yet we claim to be ” a sovereign country “…..and remember Chinese will never give you anything for free….
Envy is the tax paid by people of mediocrity to the people of success. Yes ,we remain poor and we pay a serious “tax” to Singapore .
But this is what the opposition wanted…to go the Great Wall route. Now people are talking again. Zambians what exactly do you want? This is the reason I say Zambia has no collective vision for development. People are not yet at the mindset level for development. You can see this by the way they behave in public, throwing plastic all over, urinating on fences, disobeying traffic rules, drunken pedestrians. It’s all chaos. Looking at such behaviour can one say such people are ready for development?
Hear we go again from one controller to another. Will they ever learn you do not let any country into your vital services. There is no such thing as special relationship with any country it’s always business especially with China. Only accept grants or aid with out strings. Look for ideas around the world and adapt it to suit your budget and population. Stop relying on other countries this is the message people get so they also get to rely on others. Government have confidence people would have confidence.
Throwing garbage all over…urinating everywhere….pooping in plastic bags and Throwing feces on the streets and yes lets wait for the Chinese to come and do the cleaning for us….lets wait for the west to come and feed us….lets wait for the wait for the west to come and take care of our health since we’re a very ” SPECIAL BREED”…
Is it only me…don’t you think the Minister of Health sounds like he has some serious mental illness….
And corruption is only good if its done by a white man….stealing is only good if its done by a white man….The West are the master corruption enablers…they make corrupt deals with our leaders and they turn around and call our leaders “corrupt”….they come and steal our natural resources with the help of our so called corrupt leaders…and they turn around and call our leaders ” thieves..AFRICA PLEASE WAKE UP
That still doesn’t explain it.If the white is so corrupt then why is it that Arab countries,Asian countries,Latin American countries are not as poor or underdeveloped as black countries?
You’re poor thinkers and not smart.
Blacks can be bribed but White men don’t do corruption. They do deals. One very powerful white man has just done a deal in which he has been given a plane worth 400 Million dollars by Qatar. A black man would have hidden such a dirty deal for fear of being boycotted by things like EU, IMF, G7 etc but in the North the ethics are for the unpowerful. Which European country has said anything about this bribe None. If the gold that has been discovered in Uganda was in the US Museveni would have received a jet from UAE or Qatar and the mining rights sold to Arab magnates
Why is our president quiet on these matters? I thought he and the team needed to mobilise local resources to bridge this gap left by the west but as usual, they are quiet. It’s time we started seeing fair taxes from mines going into the health sector.
Stop depending on China.We wanna see Zambian made computer chips,Zambian pharmaceutical giants,Zambia made tires and Zambian-run copper mines.
This nonsense of expecting you’ll develop by depending on foreign entities to do the heavy lifting and Zambians will rise to the heights of the ozone layer is the biggest self deception i’ve ever seen.
Corruption is bad when you are not involved, when you are eating with them you see no problem. The eyes of those who shouted Corruption are now seeing only angels flying about in Zambia.