Lucy Muzia, Volunteer Entomologist, Zambia
Lucy Muzia began her career as a science teacher until a professor introduced her to entomological surveillance in 2008 – then an undeveloped field in Zambia.
Undeterred by the lack of infrastructure and pay, Lucy volunteered to help establish the country’s first mosquito colony. Her perseverance laid the foundation for Zambia’s first insectary at the National Malaria Elimination Centre (NMEC). Today, she plays a key role at the center, training health workers to collect mosquito samples and conducting insecticide-resistance tests using World Health Organization protocols – work that is vital to Zambia’s malaria control efforts – all while she continues to work as a teacher. “Malaria is the enemy, and surveillance is our ‘spy’ – critical for understanding the enemy’s behavior,” she says. “Without it, we might strike, but not effectively.”
Extreme droughts followed by erratic rains are severely undermining Zambia’s malaria response. Extended dry seasons are lengthening transmission periods, while drought-driven food insecurity and malnutrition, especially among children and pregnant women, are weakening immunity and heightening disease vulnerability.
In response to a surge in malaria cases, Zambia implemented the country’s first ever digitalized mass insecticide-treated net campaign in 2023. The campaign was implemented by community health volunteers and contributed to an increase in the use of nets and a 17% decline in malaria cases in 2024, compared to the previous year.
The Global Fund supports key interventions to fight malaria in Zambia, including surveillance efforts run by Lucy and her colleagues at NMEC and insecticide-treated net mass campaigns – essential efforts in adapting malaria control strategies as the disease changes.