Category: Features

Amid Zimbabwe’s Mass Exodus, Meet the Doctors and Nurses Who Stayed Behind

Healthtimes

By Gamuchirai Masiyiwa, Global Press Zimbabwe HARARE, ZIMBABWE — At five months pregnant with her second child, Vimbai started bleeding. She suspected a miscarriage and rushed to a public clinic for help. The attending midwife didn’t examine her, says Vimbai, who chose to use her middle name for fear of stigma. “The only thing they did was [give] me cotton wool.” To Vimbai’s shock, the midwife wrote “attempted abortion” on her consultation card and referred her to the nearest public hospital about 20 kilometers away (nearly 12.5 miles). But Vimbai…

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Restoring Smiles Among HIV-Positive Employees: Lake Harvest’s Workplace HIV and Wellness Program Pays Dividends

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Kariba As the 2030 target to end AIDS draws near, numerous interventions are being implemented across the globe in a bid to fast-track progress towards reaching the ambitious target. For companies operating in hard-hit regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS has had major consequences on profitability and productivity of companies due to increased cases of absenteeism and AIDS-related deaths among the productive age groups. The UNAIDS acknowledges that HIV/AIDS is not just a public health issue but rather a workplace issue and a development challenge that…

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Helping Out Of School Adolescent Girls Navigate HIV and AIDS Vices Through Economic Strengthening Programs in Mash West

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Being the first born child to both parents living with hearing and speech disabilities, 20 year old Cecelia Mhande from Chikangwe Township in Karoi, has not had it easy. Her situation got worse when her father lost his job at a local dealership a few years ago, plunging her entire family into untold economic hardships. Even though she wrote and passed her Advanced Level (A Level) examinations in 2023, her prospects of going into University this year hang in limbo owing to the financial challenges back home.…

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In Search For An Elusive HIV Vaccine: Zimbabwean Scientists Dig Deeper For Answers after Imbokodo Trials

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Over the past few years, several interventions have been developed as the world intensifies the fight against HIV and AIDS. These include combined strategies such as behavioral, biomedical, and surgical methods to prevent HIV like Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC). For other epidemics such as smallpox, polio, measles and COVID-19, vaccines saved the day as they proved to be efficient tools against the further spread of infections. However, for HIV, it has been a different story altogether. On May 18 every year, the world unites to commemorate World…

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Zimbabwe’s Ministry Rolls Out DNA Screening To Find Girls Who Missed HPV Vaccination Due To COVID-19 Disruptions

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere When the world locked down due to COVID-19 disruptions in 202o, most health interventions were put on hold. Immunization and vaccination activities were the most affected. This has resulted the rising incidence of vaccine preventable diseases in most low income countries. In Zimbabwe, most girls aged 10 to 14, the eligible group for the Human Papiloma Virus (HPV) vaccine, missed the opportunity to get their doses due to disruptions caused by COVID-19. According to data, Zimbabwe shed 24 percent of its Human Papillomavirus (HPV) coverage which was…

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Inside the Makeshift Maternity Wards of Harare

Healthtimes

By Linda Mujuru, GPJ Zimbabwe HARARE, ZIMBABWE — In the high-density suburb of Hopley, Tatenda Mangwanya, 16, admires her 2-week-old baby girl to whom she gave birth with the assistance of a self-trained midwife. She stands by her decision to give birth at home, which she says was the safest for her baby, whom she named Nqobile, a Ndebele name meaning “victor.” I was registered at a local clinic in the neighboring suburb of Highfield about 10 kilometers from here, but I was transferred to [the hospital] located farther away…

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Zimbabwe Makes Inroads In Addressing Severe NCDs Through The PEN-Plus Strategy

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data, more than 560 000 avoidable deaths occur annually among the world’s poorest children and young adults with nearly 100 000 of these deaths being caused by only four conditions namely Type 1 diabetes mellitus, sickle cell disease, rheumatic and congenital heart disease. Just like most countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, Zimbabwe is experiencing a huge burden in Severe Non-Communicable Diseases which, unlike ordinary NCDs, do not get much public health attention despite them accounting for several deaths every…

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Turning Lemons into Lemonade: How Type 1 Diabetic Survivor Tinotenda Dzikiti Is Conquering The World Stage

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa At age 13, in 2010, Tinotenda Dzikiti accompanied his parents for the Christmas holidays in the village. Unbeknown to him, his life was about to change in the coming few days. What started as normal festive mood cravings for fizzy drinks, food and sweet things later turned out to be symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes, a condition he has had to live with ever since. Even in the few weeks preceding the Christmas holidays, Tino started losing weight and developing an insatiable appetite for fluids and sweet…

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Calls for Africa to Scale Up Newborn Screening for Sickle Cell Disease to Address Growing Burden Get Louder

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Globally, about 8 Million people live with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), according to the Lancet 2023 data. The disease is largely prevalent in populations with ancestral ties to Sub-Saharan Africa, regions in the Western Hemisphere namely, South America, the Caribbean, and Central America), Saudi Arabia, India and Mediterranean countries such as Turkey, Greece, and Italy. Sickle Cell Disease is a lifelong chronic disease and most of the children born with the disease in Sub-Saharan Africa struggle to access services due to lack of diagnostic tools, and proven…

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Community Posts model makes significant strides in improving HIV outcomes

Michael Gwarisa

By Shamiso Yikoniko In the ongoing battle against HIV, an innovative model promises to bring renewed hope and transform the lives of men, children, and adolescents who are missing from critical HIV prevention, care, and treatment services. The groundbreaking initiative – Community Posts Model – has been gaining momentum and garnering attention for its remarkable success stories. One key aspect of the model is its comprehensive approach to locating and involving the hard-to-reach population. It utilizes a combination of community outreach, targeted awareness campaigns, and partnerships with local organizations to…

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