Macha, Choma District, Southern Province, Zambia

Macha is located in the Southern province of Zambia, 80 km from the nearest town of Choma and 380 km by road from the capital city of Lusaka.

The topography of the area is somewhat undulating, primarily open savanna woodland averaging 1100 meters above sea level. The climate is tropical with a rainy season that runs approximately late October to early April.

The Macha area is populated by traditional villagers, primarily members of the Batonga tribe, living in small scattered homesteads which usually consist of one extended family. There are no commercial farmers or industries in this area. The primary livelihood is subsistence farming with maize being the main crop. The staple diet is cooked maizemeal supplemented with peanuts, sweet potatoes and leafy green vegetables. While much of the population is stable, younger adults tend to move to and from the urban areas of the country.

There is an estimated population of 128,000 (c. 2000) within an approximately 35 km radius of Macha. Macha Hospital serves as a referral hospital for a number of smaller hospitals and rural health centers, bringing patients in from an 80 km radius.

Overall population density in this area is 25 per square kilometer and 50% of the population is under 12 years of age. Other specific data for the local population are not reliable, but country-wide the crude birth rate is 49.5 per 1,000 population with an infant mortality of 107 per 1,000 live births. Average life expectancy at birth is 39 years.

Macha Hospital was established in 1957 as a mission hospital under the Brethren in Christ Church of North America, and has functioned within the program of the Ministry of Health of the Zambian government since that time. Now a 208-bed facility, it is considered a district-level hospital by the Zambian government.

The hospital is a 208-bed inpatient facility with an affiliated nursing school. The hospital consists of five main wards and a large pharmacy building. The latter includes a small scale intravenous fluid production plant as well as equipment for preparation of basic ointments and eye drops, including a laminar flow hood. The outpatient section of the hospital consists of a large clinic building, as well as a maternal and child healthcare building where routine antenatal and preventative services for children are carried out.
The pediatric ward is a 45-bed unit made up of seven separate care units, although the census often reaches 75 during peak malaria season. A pediatric ICU, as such, does not exist. However, severely ill patients are cared for in a 13-bed room with more direct observation by the nursing staff.

Malaria research has been conducted at the hospital since 1989. The Malaria Institute at Macha (MIAM) is a research field station and training center established in 2003. MIAM has good infrastructure available to host visiting scientists and students at Macha. MIAM opened officially in January, 2005. While priority is given to malaria research, MIAM also is available to host investigations in other (poverty related) diseases, e.g. TB, and HIV/AIDS. Uniquely, Macha has good Internet access through LinkNet