LUSAKA, April 20 (Xinhua) -- Zambia plans to conduct its first kidney transparent this year, a senior government official said on Friday.

Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said the government has invested a lot in improving the health sector both in infrastructure and human capital.

"So this year, we are hoping to do our first kidney transplant and we are also investing in human capital. We are investing in appropriate infrastructure that can support tertiary level care including organ transparent," according to a statement released by his office.

The Zambian minister further said the government would like to work with the Turkish Transplant Foundation to entrench organ transparent services in the southern African nation in order to reduce the need for treatment abroad.

Zambia, he said, was grappling with a disease burden that included ailments like chronic renal disease and chronic liver disease.

Cigdem Tunckanat, president of the Turkish Transplant Foundation, said the organization has been implementing a technical assistance program since 2015 and that so far seven Zambian doctors have benefited from it.

The organization, he said, was keen to share its experience with Zambia on organ transplant and conduct transplant studies in the southern African nation.