Dr Elizabeth Chizema is currently Zambia’s End Malaria Council (EMC) Coordinator, a high-level multi-sector body convened to support the elimination efforts through advocacy, action and accountability and resource mobilization. Until recently, she was the Director of the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP, formerly the National Malaria Control Programme) at the Ministry of Health (MoH) charged with a goal to eliminate malaria in Zambia. At the NMEP, she helped raise the profile for Zambia’s malaria control and elimination efforts, achieving remarkable reductions in malaria morbidity and mortality. She has previously served as Director of Disease Surveillance, Control, and Research; Director of Public Health and Research; and Director of Technical Support Services at the Zambian MoH. Among her many roles, she led the establishment of the Zambia National Public Health Institute, the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Regional Hub to support the Southern African Development Committee (SADC) as well as the establishment of the National Health Research Authority of Zambia.

She has been responsible for numerous infectious disease and public health topics, including disease surveillance and epidemiology; disease control and outbreak response; environmental and occupational health; national malaria control; oral health; research, communicable diseases and non-communicable diseases/neglected tropical diseases as well HIV, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted infection preventive programs. Through the system of Provincial Health Offices in Zambia, she served as a functional link between the MoH and the lower level structures, training institutions, civil society, and management efforts in hospitals and districts. She serves on a number of committees and boards and as the World Health Organization (WHO) temporary advisor. She serves as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Malaria Strategic Advisory Panel and is an expert faculty instructor in the annual Science of Eradication: Malaria course. Dr Chizema earned a medical degree from the University of Zambia and a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Pretoria in South Africa.