Author: Healthtimes

Gender Violence Survivors Find Hope In Safe Shelter

Healthtimes

THE road leading to Hauna, a fruits and horticulture farming community in Honde Valley in the Eastern Highlands, is one long, winding and treacherous one.   By Michael Gwarisa recently in Hauna Honde Valley Through the mountainous and rugged terrain, the dark tarred road wriggles its way through the countryside from Nyanga, passing through some sloppy curves and escarpments. Owing to the high altitude, the sense of hearing somehow fades midway through the mountains while the light rain showers randomly spit from all directions. In the Banana, Sugarcane and fruit…

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Customer Care Course For Nurses On Cards: Govt

Healthtimes

  Government intends to include a customer care training course in the curriculum for nurses at a time when many Zimbabweans complain of inhospitable treatment by these professionals. By Kudakwashe Pembere Officiating the Harare Central Hospital Graduation Ceremony, Health and Childcare Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said customer care should be prioritised at health institutions. “In any health institution, the first medical professional who attends to a patient or a client is the nurse. It is very important that these cadres should be equipped with the knowledge and adequate skills to…

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Harare Central Hospital Trims Nurse Training Recruitments

Healthtimes

As part of their new policy, the Harare Central Hospital intends to whittle down the number of prospective nurses to be trained per intake, amid indications that the institution does not have enough tutors. By Kudakwashe Pembere This was said by HCH chief executive officer at the institution’s nurse graduation ceremony in Harare on Friday.He said investigations carried out by the Zimbabwe Council of Nurses revealed that there  was a production of half-baked nurses which came as a result of fewer tutors. “The recent output of nurses showed that  the…

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Raped At 15, Impregnated, Fails To Abort

Healthtimes

NINE months ago, what started as an ordinary school day ended tragically for one Primary school pupil Theresa Maropa (Not real name) from Tanda in Nyanga, after she was brutally raped and violated by a daring, unrelenting fellow villager.   By Michael Gwarisa in Nyanga The man whose identity is yet to be ascertained is married and has his family but indications are that he has since gone into hiding in some unknown location. By merely glancing at the young girl whose innocence was forcibly taken away from her, one…

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UNFPA Calls For Male Participation In Family Planning Choices

Healthtimes

THE United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has implored men to be actively involved in the family planning choices and decisions so as to increase uptake of contraceptives as well as reduce gender based violence at household level.   By Michael Gwarisa Launching the State of the World Population Report, UNFPA Country Representative Dr. Esther Muia said family planning was not forced on anyone but a choice one makes freely for the good of their health and economic wellbeing. “The State of the World Population Report (SWOP) is a flagship report…

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Mliswa Surrenders Salary To Village Health Workers

Healthtimes

HARDLINE Norton Member of Parliament, Hon Temba Mliswa, will donate his forthcoming salary to struggling health workers in his constituency, whom he says are underappreciated. By Kudakwashe Pembere He won a fierce parliamentary election in July as an Independent Candidate to be elected MP for Norton, defeating then Presidential advisor Chris Mutsvangwa. Hon Mliswa’s pledge comes barely a week after Deputy Minister of Industry and Commerce, Cde Raj Modi, said his would go to charity. Realising how starved village health workers are remuneration-wise, Hon Mliswa announced at the World Mental…

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Zim’s Maternal Deaths A National Disaster- UNFPA

Healthtimes

ZIMBABWE loses 2,400 women due to maternal deaths every year, owing to numerous factors ranging from unavailability of resources, health personnel negligence and poverty, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has said.   By Michael Gwarisa in Mutare Briefing Journalists during the ongoing Sexual Reproductive Health (SRHR) Media Advocacy Workshop in Mutare, UNFPA Reproductive health specialist, Dr Edwin Mpeta said the prevailing maternal death crisis in Zimbabwe should be treated as a national emergency and should be top of the agenda. “There are a lot of issues that need a…

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Call To Align Laws Governing Health Service Board

Healthtimes

The recently appointed Health Service Board (HSB) says provisions in laws governing them such as the Corporate Governance Act and Health Service Act should be put in order to avoid confusion.   By Kudakwashe Pembere The HSB board was appointed in June this year by former Health and Childcare minister Dr David Parirenyatwa amidst calls for the board to work towards promoting ease of doing business in the health sector. It is chaired by Dr Paulinis Ncube, a public health specialist with Professor Auxilia Munodawafa as vice chairperson. Other members…

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Young Girls Warned Against Abusing Morning After Pills

Healthtimes

TAKING morning after pills or emergency control pills excessively could expose the body to harmful toxins and long term health effects, a Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) official has warned.   By Michael Gwarisa in Mutare The call comes at the back of discoveries that most young girls in particular those in tertiary institutions were consistently taking emergency contraceptives as a birth control method amidst indications that in some instances, a month long supply at a single pharmacy may only last a few  days due to excessive consumption. Briefing…

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Chinese Built Mahusekwa Hospital Develops Cracks

Healthtimes

THE $6 million built Mahusekwa Hospital also known as the China-Zimbabwe Friendship Hospital is developing some cracks throughout its ceilings, floors and walls,  due to poor workmanship during the first phase of the project, a district health official told HealthTimes in an exclusive interview. By Michael Gwarisa recently in Mahusekwa The visible crevices on the three-column, two-storey structure have seen residents panic in fear for their safety. The hospital was commissioned in 2013 and was built under a Chinese aid project to help Zimbabwe provide quality health services in the…

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