The Health Promotion Research Programme follows through the health issues since 1992, where the Government of the Republic of Zambia has been implementing major health reforms. The main purpose of the health reforms have been to increase efficiency and effectiveness in the provision of health services. The health reforms, however, were characterized by a number of challenges including (i) a huge disease burden due to both communicable and non-communicable diseases; (ii) insufficient and declining international and domestic financial resources; (ii) donor dependency; (iii) Human Resources for Health crisis; and (iv) a poor governance record. The National Health Strategic Plan (NHSP) 2011-2015 outlines an ambitious course to streamline the process of health service delivery through prioritization and the implementation of high impact interventions. The 2011-2015 NHSP was criticised for not attaching the commensurate weight to preventative and community based health care. To this end, essential departure of the 2016-2021 is its emphasis on the socio-economic determinants and bias toward community health.
The Health Promotion Research Program (HPRP) seeks to address some of these challenges being faced in the health sector by undertaking research that will help strengthen health systems and policy. The program seeks to implement research that will contribute towards the acceleration of the health related SDGs research that will help to strengthen linkages between the health facilities and the community; seek to conduct research activities on environmental issues, Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs), Communicable diseases (Malaria, TB, HIV/AIDS) and behavioural health issues. In the next five years, the HPRP will primarily focus on the following areas for research:
- Social determinants of health
- Models of strengthening health systems
- New born, child and maternal health.
- Infectious diseases (HIV and AIDS, Malaria and TB)
- The social determinants and consequences of non-communicable
- Behaviour change communication.
