Plenary Speaker Bio – Dr. Kennedy Malama

Dr. Kennedy Malama graduated from the University Of Zambia School Of Medicine as a Medical Doctor in 1994 and has worked for the past 24 years in the Zambian Public Health Care System holding various positions at district, Provincial and now national level as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health.

He holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University College Dublin in Ireland obtained in 1999. In 2004 he obtained an advanced certificate in Health Systems Strengthening using A Practical approach from Uppsala University in Sweden. In addition, he has attended many courses in Health Care Management including Health Care Financing, Health Systems Strengthening and Development.

From 1995 to part of 2016, he served as District Director of Health and Provincial Health Director in several districts in Zambia during which time he combined administrative and Clinical roles in both the rural and urban settings of Zambia.

As Provincial Health Director, he served from 2007 to 2014 in the Eastern Province of Zambia and during part of this period, provided leadership in the coordination, planning implementation, and monitoring for action of the Saving Mothers Giving Life initiative as two of the implementing districts under the SMGL initiative in Zambia where in Eastern Province namely Lundazi and Nyimba. At the Ministry of Health Headquarters, he served as Director Health Promotion Environment & Social Determinants and as Director Public Health from 2016 to August 2017.

In August 2017, His Excellency the Republican President of Zambia appointed him as Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health (Chief Executive Officer) the position he currently holds. He has received various awards of excellence in his work at various levels including the recognition as a 2014 PEPPFAR Champion in Zambia denoting his great work in the HIV and AIDS platform