Author: Healthtimes

Health Minister Sets Technical Committee For Public Hospital Equipment

Healthtimes

HEALTH and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo has set up a technical committee for the coordination of hospital equipment procurement processes which is end user driven and under NatPharm. By Kudakwashe Pembere This development comes at a time when medical professionals decry obsolete equipment and user-unfriendly machines and instruments. Dr Moyo in an interview revealed his plan to replenish the public health sector with adequate, accurate and trending equipment and sundries. On Thursday, the committee was set up with Dr Harunavamwe Chifamba appointed by the Minister to chair it,…

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Sudan: Lives of traumatized, displaced women in West Darfur under threat

Healthtimes

ONGOING instability in Sudan’s West Darfur region has left the lives, health and safety of thousands of women hanging in the balance, according to the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA. Since 28 December, intercommunal disputes in camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) have left more than 40,000 civilians displaced, of whom an estimated 10,800, are women of reproductive age. More than 50 were killed and 60 others injured, the UN has reported, and thousands of civilians in recent weeks crossed the border into Chad, seeking refuge. Citing two flash reports…

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Harare To Ban Hosepipes Use

Healthtimes

HARARE City is considering banning the use of watering hosepipes as a way of curbing and containing the abuse of the scarce resource. By Kudakwashe Pembere Harare Environmental Management Committee chairperson Counsellor Kudzai Kadzombe said top on their agenda in their first meeting as a committee is to ban hosepipes. “We are facing a water crisis at the moment and we are making a resolution in our first environmental management committee next week to ban the usage of hosepipes,” she said. She explained that the reason why there are banning…

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Study Endorses Psychosocial Therapy In Low and Middle Income Countries

Healthtimes

AS Zimbabwe’s Health and Child Care Ministry intends to adopt the Friendship Bench community mental health initiative, a research published on Lancet Psychiatry has shown that psychosocial therapy interventions is effective in bridging the mental health gap in low income and middle income countries. By Kudakwashe Pembere In Zimbabwe, there is a globally renowned intervention named the Friendship Bench where community health workers such as the Mbuya Utsanana and even the youth are used as psychotherapists. The Health Ministry in its 2019-2023 Mental Health Strategic Plan in the adoption of…

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Machete gangs: A mental health perspective

Healthtimes

Noreen Wini-Dari & Douglas Zvomuya Zimbabwe has experienced so much traumatic events across generations. Each generation has its own unique and fair share of trauma. With a poor focus on mental health within our country, most people remain untreated and may become perpetrators of violence at family, community or national level. Some of the common manifestations of poor mental health include substance abuse, suicide, depression and various forms of psychopathology. The violent killings that have gripped our nation perpetrated by what have become known as machete gangs can at best be…

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New Public Health User Fees A Threat To Universal Health Coverage

Healthtimes

UNIVERSAL Health Coverage can be summarised in two key terms. These are financial protection and quality service coverage. By Kudakwashe Pembere The new hospital user fees have a lot of detrimental implications to the health and wellbeing of this country. Government’s role is to create a level playing field while more importantly, protecting the citizens. Zimbabwe is a nation exemplary in making commitments towards improving health delivery system yet fulfilling them seems to be something taken lightly. Supposed to have a happy new year were Zimbabweans whose festive spirit was…

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Novartis NCDs Medication Zim Bound

Healthtimes

ZIMBABWE in next two months will receive non-communicable diseases (NCDs) medication it purchased from Switzerland headquartered pharmaceutical manufacturing company Novartis. By Kudakwashe Pembere Briefing the press in a meeting graced by the Novartis team, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said this development follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the two parties in June last year in Switzerland during the World Health Assembly. This time they are focusing on NCDs especially the cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, respiratory ailments and so on. We are very grateful…

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Magombeyi Steps Down As Doctors Union President

Healthtimes

ZIMBABWE Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) president, Dr Peter Magombeyi has stepped down from the helm of the organization under yet to be ascertained reasons. HealthTimes Reporter In a letter addressed to the organization’s secretary general, Dr Magombeyi urged other doctors to continue with the fight for better living and working  standards. I cannot thank all the doctors enough for the opportunities the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) has provided me. Working with you has been incredibly instrumental in my personal growth and I will never forget the struggle we go…

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Medical Aid Coverage Drops Below 10 Percent

Healthtimes

MEDICAL Aid coverage among Zimbabweans as of last year must have dropped from the previous figure of 10 percent owing to the continued economic decline  greatly reducing citizens’ capacity to spend and invest towards their healthcare. By Kudakwashe Pembere The Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ) issued new pricing guidelines in November last year to cushion members against huge co-payments and shortfalls. The adjusted rates have prompted  members to either downgrade packages or drop health insurance completely. Responding to HealthTimes,  Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe chief executive officer…

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Twin Palms Gets ISO Certification and Accreditation

Healthtimes

TWIN Palms and its subsidiary the Gamma Allergy and Immunology Laboratory (GAMMA) received a Certificate of Accreditation from the Southern African Development Community Accreditation Service (SADCAS), while SAZ presented its Clinical wing the Asthma, Allergy and Immune Dysfunction Clinic with the ISO 9001:2015 accreditation certificate. By Michael Gwarisa The laboratory is certified to the ISO 15189 standard which is a prestigious honour only awarded to organisations which would exhibited exceptional adherence to standards in their various fields of expertise. In a speech read on behalf of the deputy minister of…

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