In collaboration with the Diabetes Association of Zambia and the support of the Central Board of Health, the IIF carried out the RAPIA in Zambia.

Zambia was chosen as it is a “Highly Indebted Poor Country” (HIPC). The World Bank has defined an HIPC on the basis that the demands on these countries for debt repayment heavily exceed their ability to generate income, and as a consequence, programmes of social investment including health are suffering.

Implementing the RAPIA in an HIPC was to see how a sustainable solution can be found to the issues of access to insulin and proper diabetes care under extreme conditions of scarce resources in the health sector.

The Project Coordinator together with a team of local interviewers carried out the RAPIA in Zambia over a period of a month. In total 182 interviews and approximately another 40 informal meetings and discussions were held in three provinces in Zambia – Lusaka, Copperbelt and Eastern Province and their surroundings. These three areas were chosen by local stakeholders due to their geographical distribution and differences in economic situation.

Each interview had as its main aim to obtain the person's perspective on the problems faced by people with diabetes in Zambia in gaining access to insulin and proper diabetes care, rather than seeking precise statistical information.

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