Ensuring quality of care is a critical element for enhancing health outcomes for women and adolescents. Although more and more women are accessing health services, several studies, including national Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) assessments and maternal death reviews, point to key gaps in quality of care and limited improvements in desired maternal health outcomes. Women continue to die from preventable causes of maternal deaths and unmet need for family planning services remain significantly high. 

As part of ongoing actions to improve quality of care in health facilities, particularly for women and young people, the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with UNFPA and Population Council, facilitated provincial critical thinking fora in Western, North Western and Luapula Provinces during the second quater of 2019. The key objectives of the critical thinking fora included the following:

• To raise awareness among policy makers and implementers on critical quality of care challenges in health through the dissemination of research findings and relevant guideleines.
• To explore key actions to be included in national, provincial and district health plans, towards improving quality of care.
• To share lessons learnt from health facilities, districts and across provinces on best practices in quality of care.

During the engagements, the voices and representation of stakeholders and beneficiaries affirmed progress towards universal health coverage in Zambia, as well as the critical need to invest in key actions that will facilitate improvements in quality of care, in a quest to achieve Zambia’s Vision 2030, the Sustainable Development Goals, as well as to fulfill the promise of ICPD in Zambia.