ZNPHI Director General Prof. Roma Chilengi, DAPP Managing Director, Ms. Elise Soerensen sign Two-Year Strengthening Community-Led Disease Surveillance and Emergency Preparedness MoU

By Hellen Bwalya and Derrick Sinjela

The Zambia National Public Health Institute (ZNPHI) and Development Aid from People to People (DAPP) signed a two-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen community-led disease surveillance, early detection, and public health emergency preparedness and response in six provinces; Lusaka (Lusaka Province), Mpulungu, Mpika (Northern Province), Mongu (Western Province), Sinazongwe (Southern Province), Chipata (Eastern Province), and Mwinilunga (North-Western Province).

Director General of ZNPHI, Prof. Roma Chilengi (left) with DAPP Managing Director, Ms Elise Soerensen (right) shaking hands after signing of a Two-Year MoU to Strengthen Community-Led Disease Surveillance and Emergency Preparedness. – Picture by ZNPHI.

The MoU formalises collaboration to operationalise community-based surveillance and Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE), thereby strengthening early detection, notification, and response to public health threats at the community level in the districts of Lusaka, Mpulungu, Mpika, Mongu, Sinazongwe, Chipata, and Mwinilunga.

Director General of ZNPHI, Prof. Roma Chilengi (left) with DAPP Managing Director, Ms Elise Soerensen (right) conferring after signing of a Two-Year MoU to Strengthen Community-Led Disease Surveillance and Emergency Preparedness. – Picture by ZNPHI.

Director General of ZNPHI, Prof. Roma Chilengi (left) with DAPP Managing Director, Ms Elise Soerensen (right) exchange documents after signing of a Two-Year MoU to Strengthen Community-Led Disease Surveillance and Emergency Preparedness. – Picture by ZNPHI.

The partnership aligns with the 7-1-7 framework, which emphasises timely detection, rapid notification, and effective response to outbreaks.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Director General of ZNPHI, Professor Roma Chilengi underscored the strategic importance of the partnership and the shift toward community- centred emergency preparedness and response.

“This partnership reflects a deliberate shift in how we strengthen emergency preparedness and response in Zambia. We must leverage local resources and place community structures at the center of our public health systems, because early warning signals for outbreaks often emerge first at the community level. By strengthening linkages between communities and the formal health system, we improve our ability to detect, notify, and respond to public health threats early and effectively,” said Prof. Chilengi in a Press Statement signed by Director, Public Health Policy Diplomacy and Communications (PHPDC) Dr. Doreen Shempela.

A central pillar of the collaboration is the engagement of trained polyvalent Community Health Workers, who will serve as the frontline of early warning, community engagement, and referral. These cadres will support event-based surveillance, promote protective behaviours through RCCE, identify and report priority health events, and strengthen care- seeking pathways between communities and health facilities.
The DAPP Managing Director, Ms. Elise Soerensen, acknowledged the MoU as a critical framework for aligning community-level action with national public health priorities.
“This MoU enables us to systematically leverage DAPP’s long-standing community health structures and experience to support government-led emergency preparedness and response. By working closely with ZNPHI and district health authorities, we can ensure that community-based approaches are well coordinated, technically sound, and directly linked to national surveillance and response systems,” said Ms. Soerensen.

The implementation of the MoU in the first year will be supported through funding from the Resolve to Save Lives. This support will enable deployment of trained polyvalent community cadres in selected districts, strengthen supervision and reporting structures, and integrate community-generated data into district and national public health intelligence systems. Under the partnership, ZNPHI will provide policy direction, operational standards, technical oversight, and linkage to national surveillance and emergency response mechanisms. DAPP will lead community-level implementation through its established networks, working closely with District Health Offices, health facilities, and community leadership to ensure coordinated deployment, supervision, and accountability. The collaboration aims to generate operational evidence in Year 1 to inform scale-up, guide future investments, and strengthen Zambia’s capacity to detect and respond to public health threats early and effectively.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Dr. Doreen Shempela,
Director, Public Health Policy Diplomacy and Communications (PHPDC) Doreen.Shempela@znphi.gov.zm