African Union Development Agency-NEPAD is supporting the Government of Zambia to fully operationalise the Centre of Excellence at the Institute for Occupational Health. The Centre of Excellence has adopted a multi-sectoral approach to address occupational diseases and injuries. 

The centre is also collaborating with research and training institutions to strengthen its capacity in research and training as well as the private sector. Its vision is to be “a world-class Centre of Excellence in the provision of occupational health and safety services.” This is envisaged to be achieved through providing quality and sustainable occupational health, safety, environmental and research services for the benefit of workers and members of the community. 

The centre is a result of the collaborative effort of the Ministry of Health through the Occupational Health and Safety Institute; the Ministry of Mines through the Mine Safety Department; the Ministry of Labour through the Occupational Health Services Department, and; the Worker’s Compensation Fund Control Board. 

The Centre of Excellence is established in order to: 

1. Prevent and reduce occupational accidents and diseases; 
2. Promote and undertake occupational health and safety research; 
3. Undertake evidence-based occupational medical surveillance; 
4. Provide compensation, rehabilitative and return-to-work services for workers in respect of occupational accidents and diseases; 
5. Develop and manage an integrated management system to enhance productivity, organization performance and sustainability; and 
6. Build national and regional capacity for occupational health and safety. 

Since its establishment in 2018, the Centre has been equipped with state of the art equipment for the diagnosis of occupational lung diseases including state-of-the-art digital B reader equipment replaced the old x-ray film readers and digital X-ray machines. 

The Centre of Excellence is therefore a regional knowledge hub for the reading and interpretation of digital X-ray films for the diagnosis of occupational lung disease. It will also include occupational hygiene and silica dust laboratory analysis services; a complete package of medical surveillance; and referrals for treatment, rehabilitation, and compensation. The Centre of Excellence is already offering regional and national trainings for doctors, radiologists, occupational hyginists and occupational health and safety inspectors. Areas of focus for the trainings include classification of radiographs for pneumoconiosis, occupational hygiene, and occupational health and safety inpection. These trainings are being offered in collaboration with the South African National Institute for Occupational Health, University of Witwatersrand School of Public Health, Copperbelt University, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health of the USA, Southern African Institute for Occupational Hygiene, Workplace Health Without Borders (WHWB), University of Pretoria, and the AUDA-NEPAD.