“Ukatamanga weka utamangisa, tikatamanga awili, tifikapatali" - When you run alone, you run fast. When you run together, you run further - Zambian Proverb

UNZA-UCLMS

Research and Training Programme

The 'CHANCE' Intervention Programme

Reducing Infant Mortality at the University Teaching Hospital Neonatal Unit

The University Teaching Hospital in Lusaka, is Zambia's main tertiary referral centre, receiving admissions from across the country. In the maternity unit there are roughly 60 births every day, of which roughly 1 in 6 will be admitted to the neonatal unit. There are 300 neonatal admissions per month and the mortality rate is over 580 deaths per 1000 admissions!. The 'CHANCE' intervention programme is generously supported by 'Kids Here & There', a children's charity based in Columbus, Ohio. The objective of the programme is to implement a range of simple and scalable interventions to significantly reduce infant mortality on the unit. 

Interventions

Milk powder specially formualted for pre-term neonates is crucial to improve growth in pre-term neonates and to reduce the incidence of necrotizing entercolitis

Infusion pumps allow the automated and measured delivery of glucose and medicines to maintain optimal dose over time, providing better patient care and reducing infection control hazards




Neonatal suctioning machines are essential to clear babies airways of fluids. An insufficient number of machines, and consumables, and inadequate sterilisation, poses a great infection risk.






NICU staff receiving training in neonatal resuscitation and infection control

 

Are you a neonatal nurse or doctor looking for volunteering opportunities in Zambia? We host visiting specialists for short periods of 1-3 months. 


For more information and to discuss how you might be able to help please email the programme director: 


Dr Matthew Bates

matthew.bates@ucl.ac.uk

Tel: +260974044708.

This baby's mother had advanced Kaposi's Sarcoma, and was unable to come and feed her baby

Two in the bed and the little one said... "please buy more incubators so I can have have my own bed"

Funding

The CHANCE intervention programme is generously supported by 'Kids Here & There', a U.S charity based in Columbus, Ohio.

Infection Research in Neonates

 
As part of the CHANCE programme, we are also implementing two independent research studies aimed at identifying infectious causes of morbidity and mortality on NICU, one focussed on blood stream infections and the other on congenital infections, the results of which will inform on better management practices to reduce morbidity and mortality due to infection, and will inform on new diagnostic and treatment priorities.