Author: Michael Gwarisa

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

Zim Churches Launch Campaign Against GBV

Michael Gwarisa

HEADS of Christian Denominations have called on all faith communities to break the silence that surrounds the epidemic of violence against women and girls under a theme “Speak Out! The campaign, which brought together hundreds of congregants and development partners, was launched at the Sacred Heart Cathedral in the Capital Harare as a precursor to the annual 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence commemorated between November 25th and December 10th, which deliberately concludes on Human Rights Day, as Violence against Women and Girls is a gross human rights…

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Dump Disciplinary Action and Pursue Dialogue With Doctors-Gvt Warned

Michael Gwarisa

INSTITUTING disciplinary action on striking doctors would only worsen an already fragile health system in Zimbabwe, health experts have warned. By Michael Gwarisa Junior doctors in Zimbabwe abandoned their workstations early September, 2019 citing incapacitation as a result of the meagre wages which they say can hardly sustain their daily needs. Government has since declared the job action illegal through a Labour Court victory but this however, has not moved the striking doctors with the medical practitioners maintaining that they are still incapacitated and a court order was not useful…

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Nyakuchena Youth Centre, Reduces Child Marriages In Mudzi

Michael Gwarisa

JOURNEY of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Having been established in 2005, Nyakuchena Youth Centre has become a source of refuge and escape from the evil world by most young people, especially adolescent boys and girls in Mudzi whose daily lives are constantly threatened by their surroundings. By Michael Gwarisa recently In Mudzi Just like any other broader community, Mudzi is susceptible to numerous health woes which include Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), high HIV infections and sex work. Without mechanisms in place to help fight these challenges,…

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New diabetes hospital for Zim

Michael Gwarisa

LIONS Club Zimbabwe is planning to build a specialised clinic in Harare to curb diabetes. Michael Gwarisa This comes as the chronic disease, characterised by elevated levels of blood glucose leading over time to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves, is claiming more people in Zimbabwe. Over the past two years, the country has recorded over 200 000 diabetes cases attributed to unhealthy snacking and poor lifestyles, which has resulted in the country being named one of heavily burdened countries in the region Jona Orama…

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Early Child Marriages Expose Marange Adolescent Girls To HIV Infection- FACT

Michael Gwarisa

FAMILY Aids Caring Trust  (FACT) Community Health Officer, Ms Mirriam Muchadzingwa says there is need to scale up efforts to curb early child marriages in Marange District in order to address the growing HIV burden in young girls. By Michael Gwarisa Speaking to HealthTimes during a Media Tour in Marange recently, Mrs Muchadzingwa said even though the rate of new infections in young girls was still low in the district, cases were being recorded and early child marriages could be the biggest source of the infections. This place is not…

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TB Activists Disrupt Global TB Conference Over Exorbitant Prices

Michael Gwarisa

DOCTORS Without Borders (MSF) joined tuberculosis (TB) activists to disrupt the opening ceremony of the 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health in Hyderabad today, urging pharmaceutical corporations to make improved drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) treatment affordable and available for hundreds of thousands of people around the world who desperately need it. For the first time in over half a century, there are three new DR-TB drugs – bedaquiline, delamanid and, most recently, pretomanid – that can offer people a better chance to be cured, but barriers to access including high…

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Economic Hardships Leaving Young Girls Vulnerable To Abuse

Michael Gwarisa

 NORTON Member of Parliament Temba Mliswa says the economic hardships the country is facing is leaving the girl child vulnerable to abuse. Mr Mliswa says the abuse the young girls are facing is destroying their confidence leaving them with no hope. “Economic Challenges that we are facing are making our girls prone to abuse by older men and sometimes their parents hence putting them at risk of HIV transmission. Whenever there was a drought it was common to hear stories of young girls being married off to older men so…

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Global tuberculosis epidemic cannot be ended unless it is eliminated in India

Michael Gwarisa

THE 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health taking place in Hyderabad, India, has opened with a call to end the emergency of the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic, now responsible for killing some 1.5 million people each year. “Ending the TB emergency starts right here in India,” said José Luis Castro, Executive Director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union), convenor of the Union World Conference, which is being held for the first time in India in half a century. The Indian government led by Prime…

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Giving Traditional Leaders Arresting Powers Could End Early Unintended Pregnancies

Michael Gwarisa

MUDZI has one of the highest prevalence of Early and Unintended Pregnancies (EUPs) and early child marriages owing to a plethora of factors chief among them being poverty, peer pressure and a lack of education. Girls within the age range of 15-17 constitute a large number of girls dropping out of school and those getting married in Mudzi. Owing to its proximity to the boarder and the expansion of mining activities in the area, high cases of Early Unintended Pregnancies and early child marriages continue to be recorded despite efforts…

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Scientists Move Closer To Unleashing TB Vaccine

Michael Gwarisa

THE Union against Tuberculosis (TB) and Lung Disease Scientific Director, Dr Paula Fujiwara said scientists were a step closer to releasing a vaccine for the deadly disease which has claimed millions of lives globally. By Michael Gwarisa He said this during the 50th Union World Conference on Lung Health being held in Hyderabad, India  We are one more cautious, but exciting, step closer to a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB). A vaccine is the ultimate prevention tool and the announcement today is welcome news, but as researchers discuss how to move…

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