This last week has been a busy one for Pharmanova in Zambia as they hosted a visit by Eric Van Genderen, Director – Environment, Health & Sustainability at the International Zinc Association (IZA). The International Zinc Association supports child health through its Zinc Saves Kids (ZSK) programme and this is to support the distribution of the locally manufactured Kit Yamoyo – co-packaged ORS and Zinc for the treatment of childhood diarrhoea – through schools under the Zambia Government’s Healthy Learners programme. This Healthy Learners programme is a partnership between the Ministries of Health and Education and a local NGO with the same name. It integrates essential healthcare into schools.
The IZA collaboration kicked off with a donation of 50,000 Kit Yamoyo co-packs to two schools: Twashuka School in Kanyama and Chongwe Primary School. This will be followed in February (2026) by a fundraising push at the next meeting of IZA members in Florida with a view to rolling out the programme nationwide.
The initiative made the headlines of several of the national newspapers as well as a feature on national TV (ZNBC) and radio (The Breakfast Show on Hot FM).
Here’s the Hot FM interview with Eric.
It’s 10 years since Kit Yamoyo first became available through the national supermarket in Zambia (Shoprite). The publicity around this visit will help to raise awareness.
The refreshing thing about this intervention by IZA is that it supports existing locally driven programmes and systems. The kits donated were manufactured locally. They went into a programme that is already underway adding a new and important dimension that can be built upon in the future. If you’d like to donate kits for distribution in the next phase you can do so here: Donate to Zinc Saves Kids – Zambia Initiative. 100% of donations go to buy kits.
