Moses and his family live 177km from Lusaka. A ‘speech therapy kit’ enables home practice and transportation assistance helps him attend in-person checkups.
Cleft Care in Zambia Today
About 55% of Zambians live in rural areas. Many communities face a shortage of specialized medical professionals, and a severe drought has continued for two years - affecting health, livelihoods, and food security.
Rural families affected by cleft often experience stigma and have limited access to information about the condition. Reaching specialist care usually requires long and expensive travel to urban centres.
In collaboration with Beit‑CURE Children’s Hospital, whose Comprehensive Cleft Care Centre opened in 2024, we help families with reliable transportation and are developing community‑based care so they can begin and continue their rehabilitation journey.
Fast Facts
- Population: 21,696,800
- Capital: Lusaka
- Poverty Line: 64.3% of population
- Cleft Incidence: 1 in 700 globally, under-reported in Zambia
Key Challenges
Community Engagement
Cleft lip and palate can carry strong social stigma in Zambia. Transforming Cleft’s partner Beit-CURE trains Community Health Workers to help dispel myths, build awareness of treatment options, and grow community understanding.
Transportation Assistance
Multidisciplinary cleft care is now available in Lusaka, an important step forward for the country. We help families overcome travel barriers by providing transportation support, ensuring children can attend essential appointments and continue their care.
Psychosocial Care
Children with cleft frequently experience social exclusion and bullying. Families often face shame and guilt. Psychosocial care is important to wellbeing.
Remote communities in Zambia have limited access to health services. TC’s local partners innovates ways to ensure families access care on a regular basis.
Zambia at a Glance
Families accessing
Comprehensive Cleft Care
Families living in rural communities receiving specialized CCC
Community Health Workers trained in early cleft detection, referral pathways, and ongoing patient support
“For CURE Zambia, providing Comprehensive Cleft Care is about more than just treatment. It's care that is equitable, accessible, and sustainable — care for our patients and a bright future for our country!”
- Meredith Workman, Plastic Surgeon & Cleft Team Lead
Stories from Zambia
Laced and Andry were overjoyed to be expecting another child. Would their daughter, Sarobidy, have a little brother or sister? Yet beneath the excitement, a quiet unease lingered. Joy filled the room when Marcella was born, but it was fleeting. Laced and Andry’s midwife had news. It was the very fear that had weighed on their hearts. Marcella was born with a cleft palate, just…
Story originally featured in Transforming Cleft’s Annual Report released in May 2023. For the last 20 years, Transforming Cleft has partnered locally to deliver Comprehensive Cleft Care (CCC) in Eastern Myanmar, where many families rely on medical care based in Thailand. Throughout 2022 & 2023, the border between Myanmar and Thailand remained closed. The…
Naly was born with a cleft palate. His parents were acquainted with the challenges this poses for feeding and eventually for clear speech – a cousin was also affected by cleft years earlier. Like their relatives, they felt that they had nowhere to turn. When Naly was 18 months old, the family learned that a surgical…
Nurit was relieved when her daughter, 1.5 year old Gebrela, made it successfully through her third surgical treatment at CURE Ethiopia, Transforming Cleft’s local partner. The procedure was shorter and less intimidating than her daughter’s cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries. By nearly eliminating the chance of cleft-connected hearing loss, Nurit knew it was worth…
“It was like a cold bucket of water pouring over me…”. Rubí described the moment she learned her son Brian would be born with a cleft lip and palate. As the news doused her, her thoughts darted. Until then, Rubí and her husband Luis were focused on the jubilation of their first pregnancy. Cleft wasn’t…
Cristian’s first experiences with healthcare caused his family to feel fear and distrust. He was born in Bolivia with a cleft lip and palate. His parents, Teresa and Fabricio, were uncertain about the future. But one thing they did know – they would be along side their son every step of the way. In Bolivia,…
Our Partners in Cleft Care
TC has been supporting partners in Zambia since 2025
Our Partnerships in Zambia
- Beit-CURE Children’s Hospital, Zambia