For pregnant women around the world, anemia can be a common condition, typically treated with a daily vitamin. Yet, for women in low-resource countries like Zambia, these essential nutritional supplements are often unavailable. Without them, women may struggle with complications throughout their pregnancy. There is also a greater risk that their babies will be born early or underweight. For nearly a century, CMMB has delivered medicine and medical supplies, free of charge, to some of the most vulnerable people in the world. In 2024, we distributed $278.9 million worth of medical supplies to over 4,300 hospitals and health facilities in 32 countries. With these donations, health facilities and community health workers are equipped to provide essential services and treatments, including nutritional supplements, that are difficult to access in places like Zambia—supporting healthy pregnancies.

Strong Partnerships Bring Medical Donations to Zambia

Kirk Humanitarian vitamins in stock at pharmacy in Zambia.

Strong partnerships make CMMB’s work possible. Together with our local affiliate, Access to Health Zambia (A2HealthZ), we deliver critical medical supplies to health facilities, NGOs, and community healthcare providers in Zambia’s most rural and remote regions. Over the past decade, we have distributed more than $50 million worth of medicines and supplies, serving more than two million Zambians.  

In our global work building healthier lives for women and children, we see that nutritional supplements for pregnant women are an ongoing, critical need. Kirk Humanitarian, another trusted CMMB partner, donated a large supply of UNIMMAP Multiple Micronutrient Supplements to support healthy pregnancies in Zambia. Shipping and distributing the supplements—no easy task—was our next focus.   

Fortunately, another trusted CMMB partner, Airlink, was able to help. Their aviation and logistics coordination is a critical support to CMMB. With their global shipping expertise, we can quickly deliver medications and supplies.  

Strong Partnerships Bring Medical Donations to Zambia

A pharmacist stocks shelves at a hospital in Mwandi.

In rural communities in Zambia, women live in challenging circumstances. Sometimes, even the most basic essentials like clean, safe water are lacking. Education and economic opportunities are not promised. Chronic malnutrition is a persistent problem—for both women and children.  

Healthcare access is limited, too. For families who live in Zambia’s remote and rural regions, health facilities are often far. With little trust in formal medicine, women may go through pregnancy and childbirth without any medical care at all. This often leads to tragic outcomes.  

In partnership with A2HealthZ, CMMB is working to improve the lives of mothers, children, and their communities in Zambia. By connecting more pregnant women to antenatal care, including access to nutritional supplements for anemia. Together, we help more women experience healthy pregnancies and deliver healthy babies.  

Brenda’s Story  

The Mwandi Mission Hospital in Zambia

Brenda Masiliso lives in Namuzingu, Zambia, 15 miles away from the nearest health facility, the Lutaba Rural Health Centre of Mwandi. For a busy mother of two like Brenda, it can be challenging to make the trip. Instead, CMMB’s community health workers come to her for regular home health visits.  

It was during one of those home visits that Brenda discovered she was pregnant with her third child.  Community health workers quickly connected her to antenatal care, where she shared she was always exhausted. At a first-trimester appointment, she learned why: she had anemia.  

It’s not an unusual diagnosis for pregnant women. During pregnancy, blood volume increases, and if a pregnant woman does not get enough iron and other vitamins, her body does not produce enough hemoglobin. That means there’s not enough oxygen in her blood.   

Fortunately, nutritional supplements are typically an effective treatment for anemia. Thanks to CMMB’s partnerships with A2HealthZ, Airlink, and Kirk Humanitarian, the supplements Brenda needed were available—the moment she needed them.   

“These tablets have helped me so much. Initially, I could have low energy and would feel tired after doing small chores at work but, with time, I started to feel better. The tablets are so easy to take, especially for pregnant women who sometimes suffer from nausea. Now my low blood condition I had has resolved.”

With normal hemoglobin levels, Brenda is now at the Mwandi Mission Hospital’s Mothers’ Shelter, awaiting her baby’s delivery. She is filled with gratitude for vitamins that gave her a healthier pregnancy, and will give her baby a better chance of a healthy start.  

“[I] am so thankful to the donors of these tablets. I know sometimes they may not know how far their help reaches.”

At CMMB, we are grateful for trusted partners like A2HealthZ, Airlink, and Kirk Humanitarian. With their support, vital medications reach patients like Brenda—and her baby—on time.