Author: Kuda Pembere

230 000 Zimbabweans to benefit from USAID, WFP 2024 lean season assistance

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere About 230 000 Zimbabweans are set to benefit from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) US$11.3 million food support to cushion against the January to March 2024 lean season. The World Food Programme (WFP) will be coordinating the distribution of this assistance which comes at the nick of time when the country is also enduring the El Nino situation.This lean season assistance is part of the collective efforts of the national Food Deficit Mitigation Programme in partnership with the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and…

Read More

Zim, SA medical products regulators sign MOU

Kuda Pembere

By Staff Reporter The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA), allowing the two regulators to develop a cooperative partnership towards ensuring access to safe, quality, and effective health products in the respective countries. This is the second MOU following the signing ceremony between MCAZ and the Egyptian Drug Authority (FDA) last year. MCAZ and SAHPRA will cooperate in joint products reviews and inspections to enable efficient access to health products. This partnership will also…

Read More

Harare water crisis technical committee given another 100 days

Kuda Pembere

By Kudakwashe Pembere As Harare’s water challenges appear to be a thorn in the flesh for both the local authority and central government, a technical committee appointed to come up with solutions to mitigate this crisis has been afforded another 100 days to round up their task. This on Wednesday was said by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka during a progress report presentation of the committee’s first 100 days. He said Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa in October last year tasked a committee…

Read More

President Mnangagwa appoints seven to Health Service Commision

Kuda Pembere

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa has appointed seven commissioners to the Health Service Commission (HSC) to oversee its affairs. Formerly the Health Service Board (HSB), this government entity was renamed to the Health Service Commission in January last year. Chairing the HSC is Dr Vincent Hungwe who also chairs the Public Service Commission. Dr Abigail Rugare Kangwende a seasoned medical practitioner with more than four decades worth of experience was made the Vice chairperson. Former Health secretary Brigadier Gen. (Rtd) Dr. Gerald Gwinji bounces back into the Health and Child Care Ministry,…

Read More

Shortage of Blood Group O Hits Zimbabwe After Festive Season

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere High demand for blood and blood products during the just ended festive season has led to the depletion of Blood Group O stocks in Zimbabwe. According to the National Blood Service of Zimbabwe (NBSZ), 52 percent of Zimbabwe’s population are type O blood group, and this makes it the most sought after blood type at any given time, hence the perennial shortages. Group O can donate red blood cells to anybody. It’s the universal donor. Type O positive blood is one of the first to run out…

Read More

Zim Kambucha officially an Alcohol

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere With a majority of Zimbabweans defending Kambucha as a non-alcoholic beverage, it has emerged that it is a liquor, an alcoholic substance. The beverage is touted as “a health drink made from natural ingredients such as lemon, garlic, black pepper and ginger”. Manufactured by Fresh Kambucha Zimbabwe, the product was Tuesday granted a wholesale liquor license by the Liquor Licensing Board. This means it is actually an alcohol quashing notions from its consumers that it wasn’t. Fresh Kambucha Zimbabwe is owned by one Mr Willard Chinguwa with…

Read More

Zim among African countries to roll out Dapivirine Ring

Kuda Pembere

By Staff Reporter Having sold over 113 000 dapivirine rings under the ‘DapiRing’ brand as of September this year, Zimbabwe having approved it, is among the African countries set to roll the product out. The dapivirine vaginal ring, an alternative HIV prevention method for women will be rolled out to fill this yawning gap where adolescent girls and young women are among the groups most at risk in sub-Saharan Africa. The antiretroviral ring is now approved or authorized for use in 11 countries in East and Southern Africa, according to a November…

Read More

Call for dedicated Infection Prevention and Control funding in Zim

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The Ministry of Health and Child Care’s Nursing Services Director Mrs Nyaradzai Chiwara has called for stand-alone funding for Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) in the country’s health facilities to help improve patient safety while reducing transmission of infections. She said this officiating an Infection Prevention and Control Association of Zimbabwe Trust (ICAZ-T) organized media briefing on advocating for a dedicated IPC budget. As is the norm, since IPC cuts across the health sector for quality health provision, it was often neglected as a separate discipline, getting…

Read More

WAG Ends 4-month Campaign Marking 40 Years Of Championing Women’s Rights

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The Women Action Group (WAG), an organization championing the rights of women and adolescents has ended its four-month campaign amidst calls by a cabinet minister to continue the fight against gender-based violence, while at the same time rallying for sexual reproductive health rights to mitigate child marriages and teenage marriages. Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister Senator Monica Mutsvangwa  in a speech read on her behalf by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary Dr Mavis Sibanda said these ills against women, young women and adolescent girls…

Read More

Africa must rope in private sector in funding HIV Programs

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere With the discourse on funding for HIV programs being dominated by the Government and donor partners, a leading Malawian researcher says involving players is critical through innovative means such as taxes and levies. While countries such as Zimbabwe came up with the innovative AIDS levy, it has been an envy of many African countries. Professor Ann Maureen Phoya while addressing the media at an ICASA press conference Wednesday said the private sector should be roped in the HIV response financing. “We also need to raise money through…

Read More