Author: Kuda Pembere

Africa Lags Behind in Mental Health Spending, Allocating Less Than 10 Cents Per Person

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere At a time when African Governments are seized with the scourge of drug and substance misuse, Zimbabwe included, they are spending less than US$0.10 per capita on mental health, compared to more than US$50 in other regions of the world. Government expenditure per capita refers to the total government spending divided by the total population, representing the average amount of public money spent per person in a country. This stark underinvestment was highlighted in the World Mental Health Atlas 2024, released earlier this month by the World…

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External Experts Assess Zimbabwe’s Health Security Progress Since 2019

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere in Kadoma The final phase of Zimbabwe’s Joint External Evaluation (JEE) is underway in Kadoma to assess gaps in the country’s health security systems while reflecting on progress made since the initial evaluation in 2019. The first phase, which involved an internal self-assessment, was completed in July. The current external evaluation runs until Friday. Evaluators from Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, South Sudan, and Tanzania, along with experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa CDC, and other partner organizations, are in the country to review Zimbabwe’s self-assessment. A…

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Nutrition Sector Seeks Slice of Fast Food and Sugar Taxes in Upcoming Fiscal Plan

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere With the 2026 National Budget public consultations beckoning, legislators have pledged that the nutrition sector will receive a dedicated portion of revenue generated from the sugar and fast-food taxes. In an interview with HealthTimes after a Nutrition Training Workshop for Members of Parliament and Senate organized by the Zimbabwe Civil Society Organizations Scaling Up Nutrition Alliance (ZCSOSUNA) with financial and technical support from UNICEF, Gender and Development Committee acting chair Senator Eleven Kambizi commended the interface acknowledging that women carry the burden of nutriviely feeding the family.…

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Mombeshora Threatens Closure of Private Health Facilities Withholding HIV MTCT Data

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Health and Child Care Minister Dr. Douglas Mombeshora has warned private health players who fail to provide data on Mother-to-Child Transmission (MTCT) programs, saying such facilities risk closure. He gave the warning during the National Validation Committee (NVC) Meeting for the Triple Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV, Syphilis, and Hepatitis B in Zimbabwe on Wednesday. “We need the data for planning purposes. So, it cannot be choice to supply data or out of choice. Or it must be then mandatory. Those who do not want to…

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Call for Dedicated Community Health Directorate

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere and Rebeccah Zindati The creation of a dedicated Primary Health Care and Community Health Directorate has been described as a significant step toward improving accountability, coordination, and service delivery for community health worker (CHW) programming in Zimbabwe. Currently, the Department of Community Health is housed under the Nursing Services Directorate in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, a structure that stakeholders say limits oversight of CHWs despite their central role in delivering healthcare at the grassroots level. The proposal to establish the directorate was discussed at…

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Zimbabwe to Absorb 22,000 Community Health Workers Into Civil Service by Year-End

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe intends to absorb 22,000 Community Health Workers (CHWs) into the civil service by year-end, Health and Child Care Minister Dr. Douglas Mombeshora announced on Tuesday, in a bid  to strengthen primary health care amidst donor retreat. Officiating at the inaugural Multi-Stakeholder Community Health Forum in Mazowe, which was supported by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and other partners, Dr. Mombeshora said the integration is expected to be complete by the end of this year. The move comes at a time when…

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Africa CDC Hails Zimbabwe’s CHWs as Maternal Mortality Declines

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Community or Village Health Workers have been commended by Africa CDC, top government officials and other health partners for their contribution to improving key health indicators, among them, maternal mortality. According to the Zimbabwe Health Demographic Survey (2023–2024), the country recorded a 21 percent decline in maternal mortality, from 462 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015 to 363 in 2024. Speaking at the ongoing Multistakeholder Forum for Community Health, Dr. Barnabas Kwame Veboah, Africa CDC Senior Technical Officer for Community Health Advocacy and Sustainability, said it…

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Zimbabwe Records Decline in Cervical Cancer Cases

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe, which in past years recorded more than 3,000 cervical cancer cases annually, saw the figure decline to 1,354 in 2024, with Harare carrying the heaviest burden. The decline comes at a time when partners in the cancer response are calling for the rapid decentralisation of screening services across the country. According to the 2024 Environmental Statistics Human Settlement and Environmental Health Report by ZimStat, citing Ministry of Health and Child Care data, Harare accounted for 935 cases, representing 69 percent of the national total. Bulawayo followed…

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Funding Constraints Hamper NatPharm’s Role in Public Health Procurement

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Severe funding constraints are undermining Zimbabwe’s public health procurement system, disrupting the National Pharmaceutical Company’s (NatPharm) ability to maintain a reliable medical supply chain. NatPharm, a government parastatal, is responsible for procuring and distributing medical products nationwide. Its operations were further strained by the abrupt withdrawal of U.S. government funding through USAID during the Donald Trump administration. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a Health Products Supply Chain Management Dialogue, Health and Child Care Ministry Secretary Dr. Aspect Maunganidze pointed to low budget allocations as one…

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Zimbabwe Targets Sharp Drop in Neonatal Mortality

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The Health and Child Care Ministry is upbeat that Zimbabwe’s neonatal mortality rate will drop to 20 deaths per 1,000 live births within the next two years. Currently at 37 deaths per 1,000 live births, the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Aspect Maunganidze, told HealthTimes on the sidelines of a Health Sector Working Group Meeting that strategies are already in place to achieve this target. Neo-natal mortality refers to the number of deaths during the first 28 completed days of life per 1000 live births. He also noted that…

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