Author: Kuda Pembere

 Youth Urged to Lead the Fight Against Drug and Substance Abuse

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwean youth should take a leading role in combating drug and substance abuse, a Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Development, and Vocational Training official said on Friday. Speaking at the launch of the 14th SAYWHAT Students’ Conference and the “3D – Don’t Drug Your Dreams Away Campaign,” Deputy Director Mr. Osward Mudhunguyo emphasized the critical role of youth in addressing this challenge. Our young people should be at the heart of this battle. As the most affected group, you have a unique and powerful role to play in…

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HRF donates ICT equipment to Public Health Emergency Operation Centre

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The Health Resilience Fund (HRF), through one of its implementing partners, the World Health Organization (WHO), has given to the Public Health Emergency Operation Centre some ICT equipment worth US$90 000 for better real-time data collection in the preparedness and response of public health emergencies. Officiating the handover ceremony, Health and Child Care Ministry Permanent Secretary Dr Aspect Maunganidze in a speech read on his behalf by Acting Public Health Chief Director Dr Jaensch Mutede said the equipment would go a long away for prompt updates amidst…

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Regional Students Gather in Zimbabwe for SAYWHAT Conference on SRHR, Climate Change, and Public Health Solutions

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Students from various institutions across the SADC region have gathered in Zimbabwe for the SAYWHAT 3rd Research Indaba and the 14th Students Conference. The event has brought together young researchers presenting studies on climate change, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), and tuberculosis. An official from the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science, and Development called on institutions to inspire and support students committed to addressing public health challenges. Youth-led research projects not only provide valuable data but also ensure that solutions are relevant…

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Financial hardships driving varsity students into semester marriages

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Financial hardships are driving tertiary students into exploitative relationships known as “semester marriages.” These arrangements, described by students, involve male students acting as husbands and providing for female students, who, in turn, perform the duties of a wife. The “marriage” typically lasts for one academic semester. This issue came to light during a Safer Campus Campaign Dialogue on Gender-Based Violence, organized by the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights Africa Trust (SAT) in partnership with Full of Life Trust (FOLIT) at the Catholic University of Zimbabwe on Wednesday.…

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PSH Hosts Chiefs Indaba To Commemorate 16 Days Of Activism Against GBV

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere in Mazowe Population Solutions for Health (PSH) engaged traditional chiefs from some parts of the country on gender-based violence and child marriages issues where it emerged Mashonaland Central ranked highest in the country. The 16 days of Activism against GBV chiefs indaba held in Mazowe was graced by chiefs from Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East as well as the Ambassador of Sweden to Zimbabwe His Excellency Per Lindgarde. We welcome this program. As chiefs when it comes to the issue of child marriages, we refer the cases…

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Health Ministry implements Electronic Health Records in all Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe health facilities

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere recently in UMP  The Ministry of Health and Child Care has managed to install and activate for use, the Electronic -Health Records (HER) system in all health facilities in Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe district. Mashambanhaka clinic in Uzumba was the first facility in the country to implement the EHR system. Speaking to journalists during a UMP tour to assess the EHR implementation organized by the Health Ministry, the district medical officer Dr Gladman Mubonani said the system reduced the use of eight paper based registers. This is the district which…

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Govt To Introduce Digital Health IDs and Cards

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Government is working on introducing digital health IDs and health cards, a digitization strategy to track patients easily as well as a digital health payment system. This was said by Health and Child Care Dr Douglas Mombeshora while officiating a Digital Health Indaba in Harare on Thursday. Having created the Impilo Electronic Health System, the Health Ministry’s flagship multifaceted digital tool, they are planning to enhance all digital systems. We are expanding digital health systems to all regions, introducing the individual health ID and health card with…

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Finance Minister introduces ‘fast-food tax’

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Fast food outlets and restaurants will starting next year be levied a tax to promote healthy eating among Zimbabwean citizens. Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube proposed this tax while presenting the 2025 National Budget today. Fast food joints and restaurants will be levied for coming up with products such as tacos, burgers and chips and amongst others. The Finance Minister said the proposed tax comes after observing high consumption of fast-food products leading to non-communicable diseases. “In view of the above, I propose to introduce a Fast…

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WCoZ concerned by high rates of GBV, early child marriages in mining areas

Kuda Pembere

By  The Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) has decried the high GBV, early child marriages and high rates of new HIV infections in mining communities In a statement commemorating the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence, WCoZ said child marriages are still problematic in a country which seems to have made significant legal strides. “Whilst Zimbabwe has made significant strides since then in promoting gender equality through progressive laws and policies such as the Zimbabwe National Strategy to Prevent and Address Gender-Based Violence (2023-2030), systemic gaps in accountability…

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Data ecosystem for Zim’s feed and fodder in the works

Kuda Pembere

  By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe has begun working on the data harmonization of the feed and fodder value chain through the creation of a data ecosystem. With the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development (MoLAFWRD), the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (Zimstat), researchers and the private sector having the data synchronised to facilitate evidence driven policies. Speaking on the sidelines of an Africa Union InterAfrica Bureau of Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) Resilient African Feed and Fodder Systems (RAFFS) meeting held in Harare, the organization’s Data and Information Systems expert Leonard…

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