Category: BREAKING NEWS

#BREAKING: UN Appeals For US$429 Million To Rescue Starving Zimbabweans

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa An estimated 7.6 million Zimbabweans are facing acute hunger and in need of food aid, the United Nations Zimbabwe office has warned. More than half of the harvest has been destroyed because of a historic drought induced by the 2023-2024 warming El Niño episode and the United Nations officials have since called for international support to help Zimbabwe address the humanitarian impacts of El Niño. The UN in Zimbabwe has since called for financial assistance amounting to US$429 Million to assist at least 3.1 million people this…

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MSF welcomes the end of cholera in Zimbabwe, but calls for a holistic approach to fight future outbreaks

Michael Gwarisa

Zimbabwe has officially declared the end of a cholera outbreak after nearly one and half years of battling with the second-biggest outbreak in its history. The declaration follows 30 days of no cholera cases in the country. This declaration by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), is a significant and welcome development, considering that it has been more than a year’s fight to contain cholera in the country and a lot of effort went into this fight. While this is a positive development and a big win for…

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Namibian Doctor Develops Groundbreaking Digital Health Solution For Africa

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Doctor Esperance Luvindao, a Namibian Medical Doctor,  in partnership with OSAAT Africa Health Foundation and MENGA Healthcare Technology have unveiled MENGA, a digital health solution that will address health access related barriers across the African region. Invented by Dr. Luvindao, the plat form  will assist patients throughout African Semi-Rural Areas and suburbs to gain access to prescribed medication without having to travel long distances or acquire out of pocket health costs through the conventional methods of consultation and medication acquisition. Speaking to HealthTimes following the launch, Dr…

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Care groups as a vehicle for Supporting breastfeeding mothers

Healthtimes

By Caroline Chiimba Breastfeeding gives children the healthiest start in life, as breast-milk promotes cognitive child development and acts as a baby’s first vaccine, giving babies a critical boost. Nutrition Action Zimbabwe (NAZ) joins the world in commemorating World Breastfeeding Week celebrated from 1-7 August under the theme, ‘Closing the gap: Breastfeeding support for all.’ In its programming, NAZ has always placed emphasis on exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months and continued breastfeeding with appropriate complimentary feeds up to two years and beyond. Breastfeeding proffers lifesaving benefits and is…

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Viagra drug improves brain blood flow and could help to prevent dementia

Healthtimes

A University of Oxford trial has shown that sildenafil, commonly known as Viagra, enhances blood flow to the brain and improves the function of brain blood vessels in patients at a heightened risk of vascular dementia.   This new study, published in Circulation Research and supported by the NIHR Oxford   Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), marks a potentially pivotal step in the fight against this debilitating condition. Dr Alastair Webb, Associate Professor at the Wolfson Centre for Prevention of Stroke and Dementia at Oxford University, said: “This is the first trial to…

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Zimbabwe Needs To Revive Abstinence Message In HIV Programming

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa While Zimbabwe has made significant strides in addressing the HIV burden, there is a need for renewed messaging regarding HIV prevention to sustain the gains realised, health experts have said. Zimbabwe is among the few African countries that have attained the UNIADS 95-9-95 targets in adults. Over the past four years, there has been a decline in HIV prevalence from approximately 12% in 2020 to 11.58% in 2023. However, emerging new challenges such as depressed domestic and international funding for HIV prevention programs such as condoms, poor…

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Agricultural Pesticides Used In Vegetables Linked To Six Deadly Cancers

Michael Gwarisa

By Medical News In areas near agricultural production, pesticides increase the risk of developing cancer as much as smoking, according to a new nationwide study. Its authors found strong links between environmental pesticides and leukemia, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, bladder, colon, lung, and pancreatic cancers, as well as cancer combinations. The researchers compared the risks of pesticides to the known cancer risk associated with smoking cigarettes to provide an easily understood measure of risk. While the authors assert that “pesticides are an essential feature of modern-day agriculture” — resulting in robust crop…

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Women who rarely have sex are at an increased risk of dying, study finds

Michael Gwarisa

By Staff Reporter A recent study, based on data from the 2005–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), has found that women who rarely engage in sexual activity have a 70% higher risk of dying compared to those who have sex at least once per week. Additionally, individuals with depression who had sex much less than once per week had a 197% higher risk of dying than those who had sex around once per week. These findings were published in the Journal of Psychosexual Health. Frequent sex has been…

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Here Is How Instant Noodles and Zap Snacks Could Be Slowly Killing Zimbabwean Children

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa While they may be convenient and easy to prepare for your little ones, flavoured snacks, foods and beverages contain high sugar, salt and or unhealthy fats that can increase the risk of becoming overweight or obese, and of related chronic diseases later in life. Data from the 2024 Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee (ZimLAC) show that Zimbabwe recorded obesity levels of 5.2% in Infants and Young Children (IYC) owing to consumption of unhealthy foods. According to the study, unhealthy snack food and beverage consumption in Zimbabwe has been…

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New IAS President Welcomes Decision To Rotate International AIDS Conference

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Newly elected International AIDS Society (IAS) president, Beatriz Grinsztejn says the decision to rotate hosting of the International AIDS Conference. This comes amid indications that Rwanda will be hosting the 2025 edition the annual International AIDS Conference. The move is set to reduce incidences of Visa related challenges experienced by attendees mainly from Africa and other third world countries. Announcing the development, newly elected IAS president,  Beatriz Grinsztejn said the rotational policy was a step in the right direction. Following the many denied visas at AIDS 2022…

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