Dr Chitalu Miriam Chama-Chiliba is a health and development economist, Centre Leader and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic and Social Research (CESOR), University of Zambia. She has over 15 years of experience in research, policy analysis and teaching. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Pretoria, an MA in Economics from the University of Botswana, and a BA in Economics and Statistics from the University of Zambia.
Her research examines health financing, maternal and child health, health system performance and the evaluation of policy interventions in developing countries. She is the Country Principal Investigator for research on building resilience to floods and heat in maternal and child health systems in Brazil and Zambia, and for the CoM-Financing project on community financing mechanisms to reduce maternal and newborn mortality.
Dr Chama-Chiliba has contributed to Zambia’s Health Financing Strategy and Implementation Plan, National Health Accounts, results-based financing evaluations, and public expenditure tracking and service delivery surveys. Her collaborations include the Ministry of Health, World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and international research institutions. She also teaches economics and supervises postgraduate research.
- Kazibwe, J., Sundewall, J., Masiye, F., Owusu, L., Tran, P.B., Chama-Chiliba, C.M., Ekman, B. and Svensson, P. (2026). A qualitative study of stakeholders’ perceptions towards the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Zambia: equity and financial sustainability in question. Health Policy and Planning, czag074.
- Chama-Chiliba, C.M., Sachingongu, N., Cassidy, R., Binyaruka, P., Chansa, C., Semwanga, A.R. and Borghi, J. (2025). Using causal loop diagrams to explore the maternal and child health system response to payment for performance in Zambia, and it’s generalisability across settings. SSM – Health Systems, 5, 100082.
- Nsokolo, D.S., Simo-Kengne, B.D. and Chama-Chiliba, C.M. (2025). Entrepreneurial returns to education in Zambia: formal education versus vocational training. Journal of Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies, 17(7), 280–301.
- Simuyemba, M.C., Chama-Chiliba, C.M., Chompolola, A., Sinyangwe, A., Bchir, A., Asiimwe, G., Chibwesha, C. and Masiye, F. (2024). An evaluation of the cost of human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine delivery in Zambia. BMC Infectious Diseases, 24, 369.
- Chama-Chiliba, C.M., Hangoma, P., Cantet, N., Funjika, P., Koyi, G. and Alzúa, M.L. (2022). Monetary incentives and early initiation of antenatal care: A matched-pair, parallel cluster-randomized trial in Zambia. Studies in Family Planning, 53(4), 595–615.
- Health economics, including health financing, health insurance, financial protection and results-based financing.
- Maternal and child health, access to care and health service delivery.
- Climate shocks and health system resilience.
- Development economics, including education, youth employment and inequality.
- Applied microeconometrics, impact evaluation and health systems modelling.
Current projects
- CoM-Financing (2026–2030). Country Principal Investigator. Funded by the Research Council of Norway. In search of sustainability: Implementation of community financing mechanisms to accelerate reductions in maternal and newborn mortality.
- Building resilience to floods and heat in maternal and child health systems in Brazil and Zambia (2023–2027). Country Principal Investigator. Funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. Prime grant holder: London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Grant ES/Y00258X/1.
Selected previous projects
- Health system resilience, enhancement and refugee responses (2023–2024). Lead Country Researcher for the Zambia case study. Funded by UNHCR. Led by Queen Margaret University’s Institute for Global Health and Development.
- Community integrated early childhood development programme (2020 and 2023). Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by UNICEF. Baseline study in 2020 and midline study in 2023.
- Novel methods for optimising health systems payment for performance interventions to improve maternal and child health in low-resource settings (2019–2022). Co-Principal Investigator. Funded by the Medical Research Council. In collaboration with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Grant MR/R013454/1.