Category: BREAKING NEWS

Merck hosts first “Bilharzia Storytelling Lab” to support elimination efforts in Kenya

Michael Gwarisa

Merck, a leading science and technology company, announced that it hosts its first Bilharzia Storytelling Lab in Kenya. The lab is a three-day workshop bringing together 30 Kenyan community leaders and storytellers. The participants are working on the task to develop new innovative ways of storytelling to empower and inform risk groups on prevention and/or treatment of bilharzia. More than 240 million people worldwide require treatment for the neglected tropical disease (NTD) bilharzia (also known as schistosomiasis or snail fever), and it is estimated that 200,000 people die from the…

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Covid-19 Deaths and New Cases declines across Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

FOLLOWING a spike in new Covid-19 deaths and cases that were recorded in January, there seems to be a ray of hope for Zimbabwe as the number fatalities and new cases have been declining since the last week of January to date. By Michael Gwarisa According to Health and Child Care Minister, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga, the decline can be attributed to the strict lockdown regulation that government put in place on January 5, 2020 which saw the country returning to level four. The level 4 National Lockdown that came…

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WizEar Sets up ENT Unit At Sally Mugabe Pediatric Ward

Healthtimes

WIZEAR Trust last week handed over a Pediatric  Eear, Nose and Throat (ENT) theatre project to Sally Mugabe Hospital, formally known as Harare Hospital in a move that set to address unnecessary delays and inconveniences to patients requiring ENT surgery. HealthTimes The setting up of the unit comes after countless meetings and discussions which started from as back as 2017 between WizEar and Hospital authorities. In his welcome speech Dr Christopher Pasi said, “The journey has not been easy. At some point the hospital (SMCH) changed CEOs and each one…

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Johnson & Johnson Announces Single-Shot Janssen COVID-19 Vaccine Candidate Met Primary Endpoints in Interim Analysis of its Phase 3 ENSEMBLE Trial

Healthtimes

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the Company) today announced topline efficacy and safety data from the Phase 3 ENSEMBLE clinical trial, demonstrating that the investigational single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in development at its Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies met all primary and key secondary endpoints. The topline safety and efficacy data are based on 43,783 participants accruing 468 symptomatic cases of COVID-19. The Phase 3 ENSEMBLE study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate in protecting moderate to severe COVID-19, with co-primary endpoints of 14 days…

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#JUSTIN: Lockdown Extended By Another Two Weeks

Michael Gwarisa

ACTING President, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga has announced an extension to the country’s lockdown which was supposed to end on February 5 by another two weeks in a bid to combat the spread of the coronavirus. By Michael Gwarisa He said the move has been necessitated by the presence of new strains to the virus which spread faster and are more lethal than the first strain which was recorded in Wuhan, China. The level 4 lockdown that came into force on January 5, 2020 has stabilized our situation. In relative…

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New COVID-19 Variants Fuelling Africa’s Second Wave

Healthtimes

COVID-19 cases and deaths are surging in Africa as new, more contagious variants of the virus spread to additional countries. Staff Reporter Over 175 000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 6200 deaths were reported in Africa in the last week while infections rose by 50% on the continent between 29 December 2020 and 25 January 2021 when compared with the previous four weeks. In the past week, there has been a small dip in cases in South Africa, but 22 countries continue to see their case numbers surge. Deaths…

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Hepatitis C Diagnostics and Treatment Boost For Low & Middle-Income Countries

Michael Gwarisa

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has highlighted progress in accelerating access to hepatitis C diagnostics and treatment in low- and middle-income countries at the back of reduced cost for treatment and improved diagnostics systems. By Staff Reporter Many low- and middle-income countries have reduced suffering from hepatitis C owing  to increased access to testing and treatment. According to WHO, some achieved a 20-fold increase in the number of people treated with safe and effective direct-acting retroviral drugs between 2015 and 2018, according to the Global progress report on accelerating access…

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#JUSTINE: ZRP Enforces Tighter Lockdown Measures

Healthtimes

THE Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) have announced more stricter lockdown measures following reports that certain individuals and businesses were now  operating  in  violation  of  Statutory  Instrument 10  of 2021 which  barred  all non  essential  service providers  to operate during the current Level (IV) of National Lockdown. HealthTimes According to a Memorundum  under the subject Tightening Of Enforcements And Issuance Of Business Confirmation And Exemption Letters addressed to addressed to all Officers Commanding Police Districts, Harare, there has been increasing cases of lockdown rules violations by companies and individuals. “Some companies…

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#BREAKING: Zimbabwe Government Allows Importation & Investigation Of Human Formulation “IVERMECTIN” To Treat COVID-19

Michael Gwarisa

MINISTRY of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) acting Permanent Secretary, Dr Robert Mudyiradima has written to the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) giving pharmaceutical companies the green light to import Ivermectin, Nano Silver and  other alternative medications for investigations for possible treatment of COVID-19. By Michael Gwarisa In a communique to Mr Richard Rukwata the MCAZ Acting Director, Dr Mudyiradima said the green light had been granted to allow importation of the medicines and use of the drugs will be permitted under strict supervision and guidance. In these difficult…

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