Zambia Trains 60 Health Professionals in Rapid Emergency Response

Zambia has begun a seven‑day training program for more than 60 health professionals, including staff from the Ministry of Health, the National Public Health Institute, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, and the military. Funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and supported by the World Health Organization, the course is part of the AVoHC‑SURGE initiative that blends the Africa CDC’s Volunteer Health Corps with WHO’s Strengthening and Utilizing Response Groups for Emergencies. The training equips multidisciplinary responders to assess threats, set priorities and organize operations, enabling deployment within 24 to 48 hours of an outbreak or other health emergency. It complements Zambia’s national SURGE roadmap, which prioritizes a roster of trained responders, stronger public health emergency operations centres, reliable supply chains and streamlined deployment processes. WHO, Africa CDC and partners will continue to test readiness through simulations to maintain operational capacity.