27/10/2026
CANCER CARE IS GOING DIGITAL
By the end of December 2026, Lusaka’s Cancer Diseases Hospital (CDH) will move from paper-based to digital cancer disease management.
On Friday 23 October, CDH took the first step with training on eMwatishi, the Hospital Operating Platform deployed by the Electronic Government Division (Smart Zambia Institute) through its technology partnership with IHM Southern Africa and TuSo Business Dynamics. This is in line with the Presidential Directive that all government services be anchored on digitisation.
Building on the foundations of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), eMwatishi is more than an Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. Alongside EHR capabilities, it coordinates operations across the whole hospital, including patient flow, scheduling, supply chain, billing and analytics.
In practice, this means one connected system from the moment a patient registers to the moment they leave. For patients, it means a smoother journey through registration, consultation, pharmacy and billing, a record that follows them from one visit to the next, and clear, accurate bills.
For clinicians, it means a complete patient history at the point of care, prescriptions sent digitally rather than on paper, and less time spent on documentation and searching for files.
For hospital management, it means every service and payment accounted for and a real-time view of medicines and supplies. For decision makers, analytics drawn from across the hospital support planning, resource allocation and evidence-based decisions.
CDH joins a network of hospitals already on eMwatishi, including Arthur Davison Children’s Hospital and Ndola Teaching Hospital in Ndola, and Kitwe Teaching Hospital in Kitwe.
The training was led by the CDH management, a clear signal of the Hospital’s commitment to digitisation. Staff were trained in batches to ensure no disruption in patient services. During the training, healthcare workers shared feedback on the daily operational workflows the platform needs to address in order to make processes more efficient.
The training also emphasised data protection, privacy and confidentiality. Patients entrust hospitals with their most sensitive information, and as records go digital, protecting that information is non-negotiable. That means secure, role-based access for authorised staff only, and handling in line with data protection law. It is a professional, ethical and institutional responsibility that underpins public confidence in eMwatishi.
Further training rounds will focus on improving workflows and the efficiencies they can unlock.
Digital transformation in health succeeds when leadership commits and the people delivering care help shape the change. Thank you to the CDH team for leading by example.
IHM Southern Africa Ministry of Health Zambia
Cancer Diseases Hospital U.T.H
