• Population: 20.7 million
• People living with vision loss: 1.4 million

IAPB Vision Atlas. (2025, May 22). IAPB Vision Atlas. https://visionatlas.iapb.org/  

Updated June 2025

We have been working alongside communities in Zambia since 2001 Through our community eye health projects, we launched the Sinanzongwe Comprehensive Eye Care Project in partnership with Maamba Energy Limited. We conducted door-to-door surveys for Mkushi District in the Central Province, and completed a Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) study for Kapiri Mposhi District. 

In our hospital strengthening work, we established the Kafue Gorge Eye Clinic, to make eye care more accessible for people in Chikankata District. 

Our disease control programs saw us screen 40 per cent more people through hospitals, vision centres and outreach camps than in 2023. We also dispensed more eyeglasses than in 2023, due to school eye health programs in Lusaka, Mkushi and Kapiri Mposhi. We provided access to clean water to 59,406 people in Kapiri Mposhi and 70,420 in Mkushi by rehabilitating 129 boreholes at schools, health centres and community water points. 

In July, we presented a research paper on our KAP study results for Kapiri Mposhi at the International Society for Professional Innovation Management Conference.  

2024 Highlights

In 2024, we collaborated with our hospital partners to address a human resource shortage in Maamba General Hospital, where there was no surgeon available to conduct surgeries in the newly-constructed operating theatre. We successfully recruited Mr. Limwanya. (Read his story on page 27.) 

This year, we revised our approach to borehole rehabilitation by engaging area pump minders (APMs) who were already trained, rather than continually training new ones. This not only provided APMs with a source of income but also helped increase their commitment to the work. By strategically partnering with 11 experienced APMs, we were able to reduce both training and repair costs. As a result, we saw a substantial increase in the number of boreholes rehabilitated—129 in 2024 compared to just 25 in 2023. (Read about Enock, our APM contractor, on page 13.) 

Additional partners in Zambia include Lions Aid Zambia, Mwami Adventist Hospital and the OneSight Essilor luxotica Foundation. 

Clean water and avoidable blindness 

We drill and rehabilitate boreholes in Zambian communities where trachoma is prevalent. Lack of access to fresh water and inadequate hygiene often contributes to the spread of trachoma and other infectious diseases.  

Access to clean water allows people to wash their hands, faces and clothing and prevent the spread of infection.  

In recent years, we’ve shifted our focus from drilling new water boreholes to rehabilitating existing, defunct boreholes. The cost savings from this approach allow us to reach more communities. Partnership with local communities and governments empowers communities to test water quality and maintain their borehole. 

Learn more about our work in Zambia in 2022.