CHAZ Holds its 45th General Council

CHAZ Holds its 45^th General Council

CHAZ held its 45^th General Council alongside the celebration of its 50^th Anniversary. The two events which took place at the CHAZ complex in Meanwood Ibex were officially opened by the President of the Republic of Zambia, His Excellency, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema.

During the same event, the president also officially opened the new CHAZ Building that houses the CHAZ Secretariat and the CHAZ Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Laboratory.  

Speaking at the event, Minister of Health, Hon Sylvia Masebo who read the speech on behalf of the Republican President congratulated CHAZ for delivering quality health care services to the people of Zambia especially the poor residing in remote and hard – to- reach areas. She assured the delegates of Governments continued support through her Ministry. “I consider CHAZ to be part of the Ministry of Health, and we must continue working together.”

At the 45^th General Council, a new Board of Trustees was elected to oversee the Affairs of the Association for the next four years and also approved the application of four membership.

In celebrating the 50^th Anniversary, awards were given to persons who once served CHAZ, other deserving persons and also members of staff. Among those awarded was the first Republican President, Dr. Kenneth Kaunda, Emeritus Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu, Dr. James Cairns, Dr. Jansen Joop and Mrs. Dylis Haimbe.

The event comprised presentations by the CHAZ Board and Management on the history of the Association and its achievements during the last 50 years, commendation speeches by invited quests, and presentation of awards to persons and staff that have made exceptional contributions to the growth of CHAZ.

In her welcome remarks to the Golden Jubilee celebration and the 45th General Council, CHAZ, Executive Director, Karen Sichinga commended the Government for its unwavering support to church health institutions, through the deployment of health workers, provision of medical and non-medical products and funding. 

Mrs. Sichinga said the relationship between government and CHAZ, is not a marriage of convenience but one that has stood the test of time since after Zambia’s independence. 

The Executive Director also noted that the Association has grown from the initial Church representation of seven to the current seventeen mother bodies. Together, the association has a very rich diversity of membership that includes specialised hospitals, General hospitals, rural health centres and community faith-based organizations. She also commended the Association for working in unity to deliver quality and holistic health care services to the people of Zambia. 

Remarks by the Board Chairperson Fr. Justin Matepa

Fr. Justin Matepa, informed the gathering that a number of developments had taken place, leading to the growth of projects; especially on the risk that the organization took to relocate its offices to Chongwe. On the growth of the Association, he named the construction of the PCR Laboratory and the investment in the solar energy which is meant to cut down on costs and also provide back up. 

He also assured the Association of the continued support from government in meeting the needs of the association, one of them addressing the issue of classified daily employees. 

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY ARCHBISHOP TELESPHORE GEORGE MPUNDU

Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu’s speech was derived from the book of Mathews 25 vs. 36 – “I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” He said that during the Judgement Day, the Lord will not ask you about what position you occupied but what you did to help the least of your brothers. 

He observed that the work of alleviating the people’s suffering is one of the prime duties of evangelization, and that the mission of the church is to provide services to people as outlined in the Gospel.

 The Archbishop also referred to Mother Theresa of Calcutta and described her service of looking after the poor as a true vision of the church. He likened the mission of CHAZ as a true vision of the church and Christianity. He noted that for a long time the local church has been running its health programmes on foreign assistance and that it was long overdue and began to bring together local Christians to support its work. 

AWARDS PRESENTED

CHAZ presented Awards to the following persons, employees and institutions in recognition of their exemplary leadership and contribution to CHAZ during the past 50 years:

1. Lifetime Achievement Award

Dr. James Cairns

Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda (posthumously)

2. Visionary Leadership Award

      Fr. Crispin Brennan

Dr. John Spurrier

Dr. Ellen Andersen (posthumously)

Mr. Elvin Simamvwa

Dr. Trevor Kaile

Dr. Joop Jansen (posthumously)

Fr. Justin Matepa

3. Outstanding Leadership Award

Mr. Richard Ray

Bishop John Mambo

Mr. Michael Chesterman

Mr. Roy Saviye (posthumously)

Mrs. Dillys Haimbe (posthumously)

Dr. Mazuwa Banda (posthumously)

Dr. Godfrey Biemba

Dr. Simon Mphuka (posthumously)

Dr. Godfrey Mulenga

4. Staff Excellence Award

Mr. Marlon Banda

Hon. Golden Mwila

Mr. Yoram Siame

Mrs. Dorothy Chiluba

Mrs. Carol Sikazwe

Mrs. Rosemary Zimba

Mr. Stenford Zulu

Mrs. Catherine Mulikita

Mrs. Suzan Phiri

Mr. Cryson Miyoba

Mrs. Doreen Shempela

5. Long Service Award

Mrs. Florence Banda

Mrs. Karen Sichinga

Mrs. Hilda Mubana

Mrs. Miriam Mubanga

The General Council provides a platform for exchange of information and lessons learnt during programme implementation among the affiliates and other organisations in the health sector. 

The General Assembly and the celebration of the CHAZ Anniversary should have taken place in 2020 as the decision made at the previous General Assembly of 2019 to combine the two events. Due to the COVID – 19 pandemic, the two events were postponed to November, 2021.

CHAZ is an umbrella Organisation of Church Health Institutions (CHIs). It was founded in 1970 to represent the interests of the health facilities located in rural and hard to reach areas. The Secretariat is located in Lusaka, headed by the Executive Director.

CHAZ programmes are aimed at building capacity of the CHIs to implement preventive and curative services for communicable and non-communicable diseases including Malaria, TB and HIV/AIDS. CHAZ objectives and activities are within the National Health Strategic Framework. Collaboration between CHAZ and the Zambian government is guided by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) through the Ministry of Health (MOH) which commits the Ministry to paying salaries of health workers, and 70% of the running cost and medicines for the CHIs.