Day: October 3, 2025

Eight Die as Diarrhoea Outbreak Hits Children Under Five

Kuda Pembere

By Staff Reporter Children under five are bearing the brunt of Zimbabwe’s diarrhoea outbreak, with more than half of the cases reported in the past week affecting this age group. According to the Health and Child Care Ministry’s Weekly Disease Surveillance Report for the week ending September 14, 2025, the country recorded 9 705 cases of common diarrhoea and eight deaths. Of the reported cases, 5 608 (58%) were from children under five years of age,” the Ministry said. The highest number of cases came from Mashonaland West (1,751) and…

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Zimbabwe Faces Severe Shortage of Forensic Pathologists

Michael Gwarisa
Minister of Health Dr. Douglas Mombeshora shares a light moment with Dr. Ron Mhizha of the Eye Institute and Chrispen Dzingirai of Old Mutual Zimbabwe during the launch of free cataract eye clinics.

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is grappling with a critical shortage of forensic pathologists, a crisis that has forced families to transport bodies across provinces for post-mortem examinations and delayed justice in criminal cases. Health and Child Care Minister Dr. Douglas Mombeshora told Parliament this week that until recently, the country had only one qualified forensic pathologist, making it nearly impossible to conduct timely examinations across the nation. Forensic post-mortems require specialised expertise beyond the training of general pathologists. Unfortunately, we only had one forensic pathologist in the country. This created…

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Stunting Remains a Critical Challenge for Zimbabwe’s Children, Report Reveals

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa  Despite improvements in several food security and nutrition indicators, stunting rates among children under five in Zimbabwe remain alarmingly high, posing a significant threat to the nation’s human capital and long-term development, according to the recently released 2025 Rural Livelihoods Assessment Report. The report, produced by the Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee (ZimLAC), indicates that 23.8% of children aged 6-59 months are stunted. Stunting, defined as impaired growth and development due to poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation, has lifelong consequences for health, cognitive ability, and economic productivity.…

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