11th September, 2025, LusakaGood afternoon, members of the Press.The Ministry of Health, through the office of the Permanent Secretary for Donor Coordination, wishes to comment on a headline article that appeared in the News Diggers Newspaper on the 11th September, 2025, regarding 3,500 workers facing job cuts.
The Ministry of Health wishes to stress that this is a blatant distortion of facts. As a matter of fact, the Ministry of Health does not discuss bilateral issues with third party entities.
Further, there has not been a single announcement by the Ministry of Health that 3,500 workers will lose their jobs as result of changing financing landscape. This information came as a surprise to the Ministry of Health.
The Ministry of Health believes that the source of this misinformation is a leakedshort and confidential letter which was sent to workers who are on one-year contracts under a Cooperative Agreement, reminding them about the ending of their contracts by effluxion of the performance period, whose anniversary is always 30th September every year.
Notification of Contracts coming to an end is not a new practice. For this category of workers, this happens every year. Renewal of these contracts has been and will continue to be based o n the need for the expertise, pastperformance, and the availability of funding.
Current Status, working with CDC and US Government partners in general: The Ministry of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and partners
Current Status, working with CDC and US Government partners in general: The Ministry of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and partners are going through a process of identifying the areas that need support and the workers whose one-year contracts would be renewed based on the criteria described above .
Current Status of HIV response: The Ministry of Health wishes to assure all citizens that all the essential services related to HIV, Tuberculosis, and malaria will continue to be assured through allocative, management, and technical efficiencies and working with all essential partners, including the US Government.
Leaking Documents: Finally, it is regrettable that some health care workers continue to leak confidential and inherent Government documents to media houses. This must stop.
Dr. George SinyangwePermanent Secretary-Donor Coordination