Category: BREAKING NEWS

ZWMB Partners Youth Engage To Provide Loans To Young Women

Healthtimes

ZIMBABWE Women Microfinance Bank (ZWMB) has partnered with Youth Engage, a grassroots focused organization that advocates for the health of young people in their diversity to give financial freedom to  young women and girls. By Patricia Mashiri The Bank empowers women economically and socially by providing access to affordable and innovative women-centered financial products and services. It also assists young women in their individual capacity, in groups/clubs/cooperatives or as micro, small, and medium enterprises. Speaking to HealthTimes, Ms Barbara Muyengwa, Head of Marketing and Public Relations ZWMB said they decided…

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#BREAKING: City Of Harare Closes 9 Clinics As Nurses Desert For Greener Pastures

Michael Gwarisa

THE past few months have seen hundreds of healthcare workers especially nurses resigning en masse from Harare City Council run clinics, leading to the closure of at least nine clinics around the city. By Michael Gwarisa The exodus of nurses has to a larger extent been driven by the deteriorating working conditions and poor remuneration, a situation which has pushed nurses to join local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) while some have moved abroad where demand for healthcare workers is also on the rise. In July, the City of Harare reported that…

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United States Government’s Interventions See Rujeko Polyclinic Surpassing HIV Targets

Michael Gwarisa

RUJEKO Polyclinic, a council primary health care facility in Dzivarasekwa, Harare has through interventions from the United States Government (USG) attained 68% Viral Load Coverage (VLC), 96% viral suppression levels as well as increase access to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) to not less than 5039 people living with HIV around its catchment area. By Michael Gwarisa The Polyclinic’s catchment area has a total population of 88, 271 consisting of mostly low income and poor communities and HIV programs at Rujeko Polyclinic are being supported mainly by the U.S President’ Plan for…

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Male Breast Cancer Accounts For 0.9% In Zimbabwean Men

Healthtimes

HOSPICE and Palliative Care Association of Zimbabwe (HOSPAZ), an organization that deals with palliative care for cancer, TB, HIV and other communicable and non-communicable diseases have warned that men were not excluded from developing breast cancer and should always be on the lookout for signs and symptoms of the disease. By Patricia Mashiri The call also comes in the month when the world is commemorating breast cancer awareness month which is running under the theme Budding Up With One Another Because No One Should Fight Cancer Alone. Speaking to HealthTimes…

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People living with HIV at higher risk of COVID-19 illness but have lower access to COVID-19 vaccines

Michael Gwarisa

AN increasing body of evidence indicates that people living with HIV who acquire SARS-CoV-2 infection are at heightened risk of requiring hospitalization and having poor clinical outcomes. Data from the United States of America show that people living with HIV who acquired SARS-CoV-2 infection were much more likely to require hospitalization and suffer severe illness than people who were HIV-negative, while studies from England and South Africa have found that the risk of dying from COVID-19 among people with HIV was double that of the general population. Advanced HIV disease…

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3.3 Million Children At Risk Of Child Marriage Due To Post Pandemic Hunger Crisis – World Vision

Michael Gwarisa

A child that went to bed hungry in the past 4 weeks is 60% more likely to be married than their peers who did not experience hunger  Number of children experiencing crisis level hunger increased by 12 million between 2019 to 2020, meaning an additional 3.3 million children could be married before the age of 18.   Children who are not in school are 3.4 times more likely to be married than their peers that are in school.    82% of the children interviewed who were married became married after the debut of the pandemic.…

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More than 120,000 American Kids Lost a Parent or Other Caregiver During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthtimes

THE number of U.S. children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic may be larger than previously estimated, and the toll has been far greater among Black and Hispanic Americans, a new study suggests. More than half the children who lost a primary caregiver during the pandemic belonged to those two racial groups, which make up about 40% of the U.S. population, according to the study published Thursday by the medical journal Pediatrics. These findings really highlight those children who have been left most vulnerable by the pandemic, and where additional resources…

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Regional Psychosocial Support Forum Kicks Off

Michael Gwarisa

THE 6th Edition of the Psychosocial Support Forum (PPS Forum), a hybrid meeting in which discussions are being held both virtually and physically, commenced today with a Children’s Forum ahead of the adult event to be held next week from 13 to 15 October. By Michael Gwarisa The pre-adult forum saw children from 13 countries from East and Southern Africa attending and deliberating on various issues that children and young people face, with the aim of coming up with a Children’s advocacy position they will present at the adult forum…

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Erectile Dysfunction Risk 6 Times Higher in Men With COVID

Healthtimes

COVID-19 increases the risk of developing erectile dysfunction (ED) by nearly six times, according to data from the first study to investigate the association between ED and COVID-19 in young men in a real-life setting. The preliminary numbers also indicated that having ED also increased men’s susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Men with ED are more than five times more likely to have COVID-19. For men with a history of COVID-19, the estimated risk of developing ED was 5.66 higher. Those numbers remained even after other factors considered. The study, which…

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Time For Governments To Invest Heavily Towards Mental Health-WHO

Michael Gwarisa

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moeti says the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic has brought numerous mental health challenges and  called on governments to allocate financial resources towards mental health. By Michael Gwarisa In her speech ahead of the World Mental Health Day, commemorations to be held tomorrow on 10 October, Dr Moeti said mental health was often-overlooked and a neglected aspect of our well-being. Almost two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, many people are experiencing isolation, anxiety or depression. World Mental Health Day is a…

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