Category: COMMUNITY RESPONSE

Public Health Bill To Take Longer Than Expected- Experts

Healthtimes

By Daniel Phiri GAZETTING of the Public Health Bill (PHA) which is being prepared in Parliament might take longer than expected, legal watchdog Veritas Zimbabwe has said. In its Bill Watch update series dated October 20, 2017, Veritas Zimbabwe said the Bill had been taken to the government printer but was likely to take long before it is gazetted. “Parliament’s latest Status of Bills list reflects that the Public Health Bill was sent to the Government Printer on 3rd October.As this is bound to be a very long Bill that…

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People Living With Albinism Want Free Sunscreens

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By Michael Gwarisa  PEOPLE living with Albinism should be given free access to Sunscreens and lotions at all health facilities so to increase accessibility of the products and reduce skin cancers among people with albinism, Zimbabwe Albino Association director Mercy Maunganidze has said. Briefing delegates at the launch of the 2017 People Living With Albinism Awareness Campaign, Maunganidze said the  average cost of a Sunscreen tube and lotion costs between $8 and $20 and was beyond the reach of many adding that a person living with albinism requires four to five…

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MSF Establishes Effective Community Mental Health Model

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HealthTimes Correspondent  MEDICAL humanitarian organisation, Medecins Sans Frontieres/ Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have established an effective community mental health model of care in 12 polyclinics and one satellite clinic in Harare to enhance the provision of mental health care in the community. The community mental health care model is a pilot programme that was started by MSF in April 2016 in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), the City of Harare health department and the University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences, Department of Psychiatry. It involves…

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Zimplats Introduces Mental Health Initiative

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By Michael Gwarisa LEADING Platinum producer ZimPlats has successfully integrated mental health management as part of its wellness programme aimed at managing the effects of stress and a host of other psychosocial ills among its employees. Briefing a National Social Security Authority (NSSA) CEO’s breakfast meeting, Zimplats Chief Executive Mr Alex  Mhembere said they had come with mental health initiative for their employees and the company would invest more towards the initiative. “Safety performance has got a direct impact on operational and financial performance of an organisation. Studies in USA (National…

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CWGH Releases Position Paper On 2018 Budget For Health

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HealthTimes Reporter  The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has released its proposed position paper regards the 2018 Budget for health requirements. Amongst other things, CWGH implored government to allocate at least 15% of the National Budget to health care in line with the Abuja Declaration target. “Empirical evidence has shown that a 1% increase in public spending on health care reduces child and maternal mortality rates while improving life expectancy. “To boost public spending on health without undermining fiscal sustainability government must explore a number of options for innovative…

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Shot In The Arm For Zim Women Entrepreneurs

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By Daniel Phiri  AS the old adage goes, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.” For one Rumbidzai Manzonzo of Sheen Cosmetics and Services based in Mutare, the Zimbabwe: Works project (Z:W) a USAID, DFID and SIDA funded project came at the right time and made her realize her dreams of owning a cosmetics business. The project is a five-year US$12.5million initiative funded by the USAID in partnership DFID and SIDA to strengthen NGOs and private…

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Churches Embrace Condoms

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By Michael Gwarisa CHURCHES in Zimbabwe are gradually embracing family planning and reproductive health initiatives including condoms, as the country moves towards reducing high fertility and the high teenage pregnancies cases that have rocked the country, HealthTimes has learnt. Apostolic sects and other churches have traditionally been known for being breeding grounds for underage marriages and teenage pregnancies owing to their beliefs which allow them to marry multiple “virgin” wives. Also Read: Zim Beats Global Family Planning target  Responding to a question during a Media Sensitisation Meeting on Adolescents Sexual Reproductive…

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Rimuka TB/HIV Care Centre commissioned

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By Staff Reporter MINISTRY of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) has commissioned the Rimuka Integrated TB/HIV Care Centre that was renovated at a cost of US$30 000. The integrated health care centre which is owned by the Kadoma City Council handles approximately 6000 people every month. In a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Minister Aldrin Masiiwa last Friday, Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa applauded the city council for the noble initiative. “I am told that this health Care centre were once Council offices but…

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How I Was Abducted and Forced To Marry A Stranger

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YOUNG GIRL EXPLAINS HER ABDUCTION AND FORCED MARRIAGE HORROR  By Michael Gwarisa “I was locked up for several nights and forced to have sex with her son, they hid me from the public until they forcibly moved me to Bulawayo.” It takes bravery and courage beyond human imagination to stand in front of hundreds of dignitaries from within and outside Zimbabwe and share a horrendous story of how one was forced to have sex with a total stranger and later on become his wife outside her will. For young Nicole…

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Five lessons From Latest Ebola Outbreak In DRC-MSF

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Four people died in the most recent Ebola outbreak that occurred in a remote, forested area of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This small outbreak (five laboratory-confirmed and three probable cases) was quickly curtailed. The international humanitarian organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) shares lessons learned from this first occurrence of the deadly virus since the end of the large-scale Ebola outbreak that devastated West Africa in 2014-2015. 1. Train frontline health teams The scale of this outbreak was minimised, thanks in no small part to a nurse named Dieumerci.…

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