The Systems for Better Health (SBH) project is working closely with the Zambian Ministry of Health (MOH) to increase the use of high-impact health services through a health systems strengthening approach. SBH is a five-year effort that began in 2015 and is led by Abt Associates.

Abt is supporting the MOH’s provision of equitable access to cost effective, high quality family planning, HIV and AIDS, maternal, newborn and child health, and nutrition services. Specifically, SBH is working across five provinces to increase:

• Retention of HIV and AIDS patients in antiretroviral therapy;
• The use of modern contraceptives;
• The proportion of deliveries assisted by a medically trained provider; and
• The proportion of fully immunized children aged 12 to 23 months. 

SBH builds on Abt’s nearly 20 years of experience in Zambia. SBH is the follow-on project to the Zambia Integrated Systems Strengthening Program (ZISSP), which ran from 2010 to 2014 and also was led by Abt.