About CHAZ

BACKGROUND 

The Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ) was formed in 1970 by Catholic and Protestants Church health  institutions. The Association is the largest non-government health provider in Zambia.

MEMBERSHIP

CHAZ has 162 members health institutions representing 16 Catholic and Protestant  denominations. The  majority of these health institutions are which are based in rural areas. They comprise 34 Hospitals (including 16 nurses and laboratory technologists  Training Schools), 77 Health Centres, and 31 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs). Together these members account for over 50% of formal healthcare in rural areas and roughly 35% of healthcare nationally. 

THE SECRETARIAT

CHAZ Secretariat is based in Zambia’s Capital city of Lusaka.  The Secretariat is the Technical wing of the Association whose role is Representation and Advocacy, Resource mobilization, provision of technical, administrative and logistical support to its members church health units providing both curative and preventive health services and implementing activities to mitigate diseases of public health concern such as HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis programmes. The Secretariat is headed by the Executive Director supported by a lean but strong management team

GOVERNANCE

The General Council, an assembly of all 162 CHAZ members, is the supreme governing board of CHAZ. The Representative Churches Forum (RCF) comprising 17 Church mother bodies nominates candidates to stand for elections as Board Members during the General Council. CHAZ also has four (4) Advisory Board committees comprising individuals, some independent of CHAZ, with expertise in different professional fields such as Pharmacy, Medicine, Nursing,  Human resource, Finance and Law and Governance.

VISION

A Zambian Society where all people are healthy and live productive lives, to the glory God

MISSION

Commited to serving all the people, especially the poor and underserved, with holistic, quality, and accessible health services that reflect Christian Values.

GOVERNMENT RELATIONS

CHAZ works closely with the Government through a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of  Republic of Zambia through he Ministry of Health (MOH) which commits Government to providing grants covering 75% of operational costs for Church Health Institutions (CHIs). The MoU also provides for the payment of salaries for professional and non-professional health workers and provision of essential medicines for CHIs. The CHAZ Pharmaceutical Warehouse complements the Government owned Medical Stores in the storage and distribution of essential medicines.

PROGRAMMES

CHAZ implements a number of programmes including HIV and AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis. CHAZ pioneered the Home Based Care (HBC) model based on community voluntarism.

STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS

CHAZ  operations  are guided by Zambia’s National Health Strategy, the 6 WHO Health Systems building blocks , and CHAZ’s  own  Strategic Framework which has three (3 )  key Strategic Directions outlined blow:

Direction 1: To improve Health Service Delivery by CHAZ members at all levels, in order to contribute to the attainment of the national health objectives and MDGs.

Direction 2: To improve the CHAZ overall organisational effectiveness, through appropriate strengthening of all support systems.

Direction 3:  To ensure sustainability of holistic, quality and affordable CHAZ health services to the poor and underserved communities, through increased internal generation of resources.

PARTNERS

CHAZ has cultivated donor confidence over the years and proved to be a good steward going by the number of partners the Association has attracted over the years. CHAZ emphasizes on transparency and accountability in the implementation of its programmes and has successfully managed a grant value of US$224m in the last fifteen years. The following are some of CHAZ’s valued partners include: the government of the Republic of Zambia /Ministry of Health,  Global Fund (GF), PEPFAR/Centre for Disease Control and Prevention , AIDSRelief /PEPFAR, Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands (EKN), Danish Embassy, European Union, Irish Aid (IA), CORDAID, Joint Country Program (DCA/NCA/CA), UNICEF, Zambia Prevention and Care Treatment II, Fredskorpset (FK), Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN), Save the Children, Clinton Foundation, the Japanese Embassy, and  Beit Trust.