Author: Michael Gwarisa

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

Zimbabwe Marks One Year Since Recording First Cholera Case

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Today, February 12, 2024, marks exactly 12 months since the first Cholera outbreak was reported in Zimbabwe in Chegutu, Mashonaland West. The Cholera anniversary comes in the wake of the outbreak having been reported in 61 districts in all the country’s 10 provinces. Deputy Cholera Incident Manager in the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), Dr Stephen Karim said the country was beginning to witness a positive trajectory in the cholera outbreak. You might remember that we reported the first case of Cholera was on the…

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U.S. Government Delivers First Shipment of Injectable PrEP to Zambia

Michael Gwarisa

LUSAKA – Today, February 9, the United States government delivered to Zambia the first shipment of injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) medicine for HIV prevention, making Zambia the second country in the world (after the United States) to offer injectable PrEP outside of a study setting. Injectable PrEP is a safe and effective HIV prevention tool that provides clients with two months of HIV protection between injections. This donation of 14,850 vials of injectable PrEP – called Cabotegravir Long Acting (CAB-LA) – to Zambia’s Ministry of Health will protect 2,000 Zambians…

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FACT Zimbabwe Launches Strategic Plan 2024-2026

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa In a bid to safeguard sustainable livelihoods, promote health and well-being and capacity building for vulnerable children and communities, the Family AIDS Caring Trust (FACT) Zimbabwe has launched the 2024-2026 Strategic plan. The strategic plan will be guided by four key strategic pillars namely, the Safeguarding and Sustainable Livelihood Pillar, Health and Wellbeing Pillar, Organisational Efficiency and Effectiveness Pillar and the Strategic Information and Research Pillar. Officiating at the launch, Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Manicaland Province Honorable Misheck Mugadza said the FACT Strategy…

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Parirenyatwa Hospital Receives US$50,000 Worth Of Chemotherapy Drugs

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa In a bid to ease the burden of costs associated with accessing cancer treatment, TM Pick n Pay, CABS, in partnership with the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe (CAZ), have donated Chemotherapy Drugs to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals Oncology department. The drugs are worth US$50,000 and will be administered free of charge to Cancer patients in need of treatment. In his acceptance speech, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals Clinical director, Dr Morgan Mhlanga said many patients struggle to access Chemotherapy drugs due to the exorbitant costs associated with the…

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Zim Oral Cholera Vaccination Coverage Reaches 90 Percent Milestone

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Uptake of Oral Cholera Vaccines (OCVs) in Zimbabwe has reached 90 percent in the districts where vaccines were deployed since the onset of the campaign on February 29, 2024, HealthTimes has learnt. Zimbabwe successfully applied for Oral Cholera Vaccines and the country was awarded 2.3 million dosses from what was requested. A total 892,296 OCV dosses were initially received, followed by an additional 493,150 vaccines which arrived February 5, 2024, bringing the total number of vaccines the country has received to 1,884,536 vaccines. The final batch of…

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AVAC Facilitates Translation of Health and Scientific Terms Into 10 African Languages

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa In a bid to bridge information gaps between scientific research and community understanding, AVAC has launched the Translation Index, a translation of health and scientific terms into vernacular languages for Six African countries. The Translation Index offers health journalists accurate translations of commonly used and essential medical terms in their native languages in six African countries namely Kenya, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. At this time the Translation Index supports the following languages: Bemba, Cichewa, Dholuo, Kiswahili, Luganda, Ndebele, Runyankore, Shona, Tonga, and Tumbuka. We welcome…

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Providing Point of Care Response To Cholera Patients In Harare’s Biggest Informal Settlement

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa In Zimbabwe every year, December 22, marks Unity Day, an occasion to commemorate the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987, when Zimbabwe’s two rival political parties signed an agreement to end a protracted period of conflict. 36 years later, on December 22, 2023, everyone woke with anticipation to celebrate this important day on the national Calendar. For most Zimbabweans, it was a normal but cloudy Unity Day Holiday, with a high likelihood of precipitation later in the day. However, for Tanaka Nyamukoko (23) from Hopley, a…

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Zimbabwe Records Upsurge In Adolescents Booking In Antenatal Clinics

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Adolescent pregnancy prevalence in Zimbabwe is standing at 23.7 percent, while 21 percent of Antenatal Clinic (ANC) bookings were recorded from January 2019 to December 2022 among adolescents aged 10 to 19 years, HealthTimes can reveal. The pregnancies have largely been driven by a myriad of factors, chief among them being economic-induced hardships, sexual abuse, and early exposure to pornographic and indecent online content, according to data from a National Assessment of Adolescent Pregnancies in Zimbabwe. The National assessment was conducted by the Centre for Sexual Health…

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United Kingdom Funds New Malaria Vaccines Research

Michael Gwarisa

By David Cameron Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs “In 2022, three in four of those who died from malaria were African children under five years old. Britain is helping end this epidemic. A bite from a miniscule mosquito may seem just a pinprick. The parasite which can then infect you is microscopic. But these tiny organisms spread malaria. And without the right treatment, this can kill. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), almost 250 million people caught malaria in 2022, of whom over 600,000 died.…

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Zimbabwe Launches House to House Oral Cholera Vaccination Campaign

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa A total of 2.3 million people, aged one year old and above, are set to benefit from the Oral Cholera Vaccination (OCV) campaign that has been launched in Harare today. The campaign will be carried out on a  house-to-house, and cluster-to-cluster basis in 160 wards within 26 high-risk districts in seven provinces namely Harare, Mashonaland West, Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central, Manicaland, Masvingo and Midlands. These districts are considered the main drivers of the outbreak. Officiating at the launch, Minister of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), Dr Douglass…

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