Author: Michael Gwarisa

Editor for HealthTimes, Zimbabwe's leading online health news publication

#BREAKING: The Vaccine Does Not Contain Mark Of The Beast Says Prophet Makandiwa as he Tells People To Get Vaccinated

Michael Gwarisa

UNITED Family International Church (UFIC) founder, Prophet Emmanuel Makandiwa has announced that those who wish to get vaccinated should go ahead and do so. By Michael Gwarisa In a live broadcast on his YouTube Channel, Prophet Makandiwa said contrary to what has been reported about his sermons before, he does not believe or subscribe to the notion that the COVID-19 Vaccine contains the mark of the  beast.  People are asking me saying Man of God, is there a green light? Should we get vaccinated? I have been ignoring all these…

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Unvaccinated People Constitute Majority Of Deaths and Infections In Harare- New Data

Michael Gwarisa

A new report by the Zimbabwean government indicates that more people who have died from COVID-19 in Harare during the ongoing third wave had not been vaccinated. By Michael Gwarisa According to an update on the Admissions and Community Deaths by Vaccination Status that was released by the Chief COVID-19 Coordinator in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Agnes Mahomva, 88.9% of those who have lost their lives to COVID in Harare were unvaccinated. This data was gathered from 207 total number of deaths and mortuary data. The…

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CWGH, HealthTimes Online Vaccination Campaign Pays Dividends

Michael Gwarisa

AN online media vaccination awareness campaign being run by HealthTimes through support from the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has reduced vaccine hesitancy and seen more people taking vaccination over the past two months. By Staff Reporter The campaign running under the theme “Help Stop The COVID-19 Pandemic, Get Vaccinated Today” is being run mainly through the HealthTimes WhatsApp platforms and other HealthTimes media platform such as the Twitter, Facebook and the news website, has taken the market by storm and generated interest across the social divide. In an…

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#BREAKING: Dapivirine, Vaginal Ring Approved For Use In Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

IN what is likely to be a major breakthrough for Zimbabwe’s HIV response, the Dapivirine or Vaginal Ring, a tool meant to expand HIV prevention options for women has been approved for use in Zimbabwe, HealthTimes has learnt. By Michael Gwarisa The Vaginal ring was submitted to the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) for review on March, 5 2021 and according to MCAZ procedures, approval for a medical drug or innovation usually takes between three months or a few years, depending on the completeness of the technical information that…

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Brain Drain Hampers City Of Harare Clinics Vaccination Efforts

Michael Gwarisa

HARARE local authority Clinics are finding it difficult to clear long winding queues of citizens who are coming forward daily to get inoculated. By Michael Gwarisa In most cases, the facilities are just serving 30 or less people, telling the remaining hundreds to consider a later date for vaccination. Even though the City has published a list of centers conducting vaccinations, it appears some centers have not been living up to their promise. A tour of the vaccination centers around the city show a grim picture characterized by long winding…

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20 0000 Active Landslides Identified In Chipinge and Chimanimani

Michael Gwarisa

AN ongoing assessment by the United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO-ROSA) together with its local and international partners indicates that Chipinge and Chimanimani Districts in Manicaland province are amongst the most flood prone areas in Southern Africa, making them highly susceptible to devastating landslides. By Michael Gwarisa This comes at the back of revelations  by the Catholic University of Leuven which has already mapped out about 20,000 active landslides in the two districts (mainly connected to the cyclone Idai event) using remote sensing data. The field assessment includes…

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Zim Hospitalized Cases Shoot Through The Roof

Michael Gwarisa

THE number of COVID-19 patients admitted in health institutions in Zimbabwe has ballooned in the past few weeks owing to the high infectiousness of the new Delta variant that is currently dominant in the country. By Michael Gwarisa According to the ministry of health and child care (MoHCC) daily situation report of July 12, 2021, a total 753 COVID-19 patients are currently under institutional admission. As of 11 July, 2021, there were 753 hospitalized cases. New admissions 90, Asymptomatic 209 mild to moderate 439, severe 77 and 28 in Intensive…

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Faith Based Organizations Strategic In Addressing HIV Information Gaps and Gender Inequality

Michael Gwarisa
Members from various churches gather at the women and girls symposium

RELGIOUS and Faith based Organisations (FBOs) have been identified as a key partner in addressing some of the information gaps rampart in the male population which has seen them lagging behind in terms of access to health information and services. By Michael Gwarisa Speaking during a virtual meeting for FBOs, UNAIDS Country Director, Sophia Mukasa Monico said Faith Based Organizations were deeply rooted in communities and they were better placed to address some of the inequalities with regards to access to essential health information, Gender Based Violence (GBV) and other…

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What You Need To Know About The COVID-19 Delta Variant IN Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

What is the Delta variant and why was it classified as a variant of concern (VOC)? Variants are viruses that have changed or mutated. Variants are common with coronaviruses; however, a SARS-CoV-2 variant becomes a variant of concern (VOC) when its changes have a clinical or public health significance that affects one or more of: transmissibility (spread) OR virulence (severity of disease) or change in clinical disease presentation OR  vaccine effectiveness OR  diagnostic testing or therapeutics. The Delta variant meets the definition of a variant of concern (VOC) as we…

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Zimbabwe’s Week Of Horror As Hundreds Fall To COVID

Michael Gwarisa

THE country recorded a total 206 deaths and 10, 592 new COVID-19 cases in the week ending July, 9 2021, bringing the national cumulative death toll to 2 084. Staff Reporter The number of deaths from COVID-19 have surpassed the total number of deaths that were recorded in Zimbabwe between the first and second wave of coronavirus that stalked the country between March 2020 and February 2021. https://www.psmas.co.zw/#/home According to data from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) daily Situation Reports gathered between Monday, July 5 and Friday…

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