Author: Healthtimes

Prof Smelly Dube honored as the Most Inspiring Personality in Africa

Healthtimes

By Staff Writer Rivervalley Group of Companies Chief Executive Prof Dr. Smelly Dube has been inducted into the 2025 Peace Achievers International hall of fame as the Most Inspiring Personality of Africa. Along with other eminent Africans, she was honoured at a ceremony held in Abuja on November 8 for her contrbutions in achieving world peace and international harmony. In the citation, the organisers wrote: “Consistent with its mission to establish world Peace, Peace Ambassador Agency and DAVDAN Peace and Advocacy Foundation acknowledges as Ambassador for Peace, those individuals whose…

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Cimas Sets Stage for Inaugural @80 Media Awards in Bulawayo

Healthtimes

By Staff Reporter  Cimas Health Group will tonight host the inaugural Cimas @80 Media Awards at Cresta Churchill Hotel in Bulawayo, marking a major milestone in the organisation’s 80th anniversary celebrations. The awards, launched in September and supported by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ), aim to honour outstanding health journalism that contributes to a well-informed and health-literate society. The Cimas @80 Media Awards recognise excellence across four key categories: Healthcare Transformation, Health and Wellness, Excellence in Medical Innovation, and Public Health Awareness. These categories reflect areas where journalism plays…

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Health Experts Warn WHO Against Full Tobacco Ban and Call for Balanced Regulation

Healthtimes

By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma For decades, global public health experts have agreed on one thing: banning a dangerous substance rarely eliminates its use. It often pushes the trade underground, where governments lose visibility and control. Regulation, however, gives policymakers room to monitor, manage and gradually reduce harm. This tension now sits at the center of a growing global debate. As the World Health Organization (WHO) considers tightening international controls on tobacco production under the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), major tobacco-producing economies fear that sweeping restrictions could trigger economic…

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WHO FCTC Secretariat’s Assumptions on Nicotine Alternatives Are Misguided

Healthtimes

By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma While there is broad evidence that tobacco cessation is achievable through several approaches, including tobacco harm reduction, it remains unclear why the Secretariat of the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) continues to insist that all nicotine products are the same or that they all pose equal harm. Despite evidence showing that non-tobacco nicotine products play a key role in smoking cessation, the WHO has spent decades attempting to establish tobacco control measures that have delivered limited impact. The tobacco epidemic remains…

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Experts Criticize WHO for Ignoring Evidence on Safer Smoking Alternatives

Healthtimes

By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma The Conference of the Parties (COP) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) has been ignoring emerging scientific evidence on tobacco harm reduction. Experts say the organisation continues to enforce restrictions that are not fit for purpose, while global smoking rates remain high. Tobacco harm reduction refers to the use of safer alternatives to cigarettes, including e-cigarettes, vapes, heat-not-burn products, pouches, and snus. These products are designed to provide nicotine with fewer health risks than traditional smoking. Critics argue that COP…

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The Right to Know: Why Access to Tobacco Harm Reduction Information Is a Matter of Human Rights

Healthtimes

By HealthTimes When forty-seven-year-old Idai Moyo from Harare finally managed to quit smoking after two decades, it wasn’t because she suddenly found the willpower that had eluded her for years. It was because she discovered something she hadn’t known existed — a smoke-free nicotine alternative that allowed her to move away from cigarettes gradually, without withdrawal or shame. No one told me,” she said. “If I’d known earlier, I would have stopped long ago.” Her words capture a moral dilemma at the heart of global tobacco control: why are millions…

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ZRP Intercepts Truck Smuggling Pharmaceutical Products Into Zimbabwe

Healthtimes

By Staff Reporter The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) say they intecepted a tanker truck yesterday at the 336 kilometre peg along Harare-Chirundu Road and arrested the driver, Elisha Nemaungwe (48) in connection with smuggling pharmaceutical products. The arrest led to the recovery of a contraband of tablets and injections, which include, 158 X50 X 10 Combo Pain tablets, 225 X 10 X 10 C4 tablets, 70 x 20 mls Lidocaine injections and 5 X 100 Ampoules Diclofenac injections.

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Gweru Doctor Arrested Over Alleged Mutoriro Use

Healthtimes

By Staff Reporter A 49-year-old medical doctor based in Gweru appeared before the Gweru Magistrates’ Court for possession and alleged use of crystal meth, locally known as mutoriro. Dr. Farikayi Manjeya, a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist was charged alongside Tafara Chigoya (28), Kudakwashe Godknows Mutata (29), and Tariro Pambwa (35).   Police, according to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), received a tip-off about drug activity at the doctors’ cottages in Gweru, where Dr. Manjeya lives. “On the 9th of November 2025, detectives proceeded to the doctors’ cottages and found the…

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Zimbabwe’s Top 10 Health Champions for 2025

Healthtimes

As has become tradition at HealthTimes, every year we honour leaders in the healthcare sector who are making a difference and contributing significantly to Zimbabwe’s health system. This year, we are doing things differently. We have categorised the champions according to their sectors or areas of influence, focusing on innovation and the strategies that healthcare leaders in Zimbabwe have employed to overcome the hurdles facing the sector. The year 2025 brought new disruptions to the country’s healthcare system, following the withdrawal of donor funding for a number of programmes. However,…

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Why Harm Reduction Matters More in Africa

Healthtimes

By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma The African Tobacco Control Alliance (ACTA) defines Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) as a public health strategy aimed at lowering the health risks to individuals and society associated with combustible tobacco products. This approach is based on the understanding that most harm linked to tobacco use comes from the chemicals released and inhaled when tobacco is burned. By removing the burning or smoking element, the risks from tobacco consumption are significantly reduced. ACTA further notes that THR acknowledges a critical reality: many adults who smoke and wish…

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