Category: Features

Zimbabwe at risk of Zoonotic TB in humans

Michael Gwarisa

THE removal and vandalism of perimeter fences separating wildlife reserves from grazing areas for domestic animals as well as human habitats in most communal areas in Zimbabwe, poses a risk of transmission for Bovine Tuberculosis, a renowned Veterinary expert has said. In 2019, President Emmerson Mnangwga announced that government would erect perimeter fences around national parks as part of measures to reduce human-wildlife conflict which if left unchecked, could lead to the uncontrolled spread of Zoonotic diseases such as Bovine Tuberculosis also known as Zoonotic TB. A Zoonotic disease or…

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MSF Provides mental health support for refugees

Healthtimes

In Tongogara refugee camp, a remote place in the south-east of Zimbabwe where over 15,000 people live, most of the refugees come from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mozambique, Burundi and Rwanda. While in their country of origin, most of the refugees experienced traumatic events including war, rape, torture and physical injuries, among other traumatic events that caused them to flee. By Staff Reporter For some of the refugees, the camp is the only home they have known for nearly 20 years, having been born and bred there. As…

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CeSSHAR, NAC empower Beitbridge sex workers

Kuda Pembere

Donning a baby-blue t-shirt, is a bespectacled bubbly 55 year old woman feeling young enough to compete with the ama2000 who are plying the sex work trade, the oldest profession in the world. By Kuda Pembere recently in Beitbridge Widowed, left a pauper with four children, the tinted short-haired Winnie Phiri was advised by a neighbour to venture into sex work as a way out of poverty. As a sex worker, she thought unprotected sex would please her clients as she did her husband. Coupled with the gang-rape, Winnie was…

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Zimbabwe’s Health Sector Goes Green with Solar Powered Electronic Health Records

Michael Gwarisa

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), is rolling out “Impilo,” an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system, which is meant to improve efficiency in the health sector through enhancing data collection, management, patients’ care as well as improve communication between health practitioners and patients. By Michael Gwarisa According to the Ministry of Health, they intend to have fully deployed the system in the entire healthcare sector by December 2023. The roll-out of the Impilo is being supported by key specialized systems like the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), the…

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Bye-bye candlelight births: Rural women Cherish UNDP-Global Fund solar electrification project

Michael Gwarisa

Emelda Madlangove (33) from Ward 6, under headman Svondo in Mhandamahwe, has three children. Her third child was delivered at Mhandamahwe Rural Health Centre in December 2022. However, she recalls the “dark days.” A period when everything in the labour ward was pitch-black and expecting mothers would deliver through the aid of candles and makeshift lighting alternatives. By Michael Gwarisa in Chivi District The year was 2016 and she was booked to deliver her first child at Mhandamahwe facility. She vividly remembers how the nurses ran up and down trying…

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Decolonising HIV Research through the MATRIX

Michael Gwarisa

FOUR decades ago, the HIV virus was discovered and since then, millions of lives have been lost as a result. With no cure in sight as yet, a number of innovations have been developed to either prevent and or reduce chances of getting infected with the HIV virus. By Michael Gwarisa This has seen cases of new HIV infections and deaths reducing and now more than ever, People Living with HIV (PLHIV) live long and fulfilling lives just like anyone else. The number of children being born with HIV has…

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IDAHOBIT 2023: End Discrimination and Violence Towards LGBTIQ Persons in Zimbabwe

Healthtimes

ON the occasion of celebrating this year’s International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT), LGBTIQ rights advocacy organisations in Zimbabwe have called for an end to discrimination and violence against sexual minorities. By Paul Sixpence IDAHOBIT has been celebrated yearly on 17 May since 1990, the day when the Health Organisation Organisation (WHO), declassified homosexuality as a mental disability and de-classified it as a disease. This year’s commemorations are being held under the theme, “Together Always: United in Diversity. The theme speaks to the importance of inclusivity and support…

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The imperative of integrated person-centered care to achieving Universal Health Coverage

Healthtimes

By Vivian Mugarisi Harare, Zimbabwe – 51-year-old Kay Mabika** adheres to her HIV medication. Testing positive for HIV in 2006 added more weight and complexities onto the burden of living with diabetes, which she was diagnosed with 4 years earlier. Despite being strict in adhering to antiretroviral treatment (ART), Mabika struggles to manage her diabetic condition and is worried that she may not even be able to afford the medication when she retires. Due to the diabetic condition, she lost her sight in her left eye and the right one…

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Teen Pregnancies Are Soaring. Is Revamping Sex Education the Answer?

Healthtimes

BIKITA, ZIMBABWE — When Delight Ziwacha was 16, she didn’t know one could get pregnant after having unprotected sex only once. A friend told her that it had to happen multiple times. So, after experimenting with alcohol during a high school soccer tournament, she had unprotected sex with her 17-year-old boyfriend. A month and a half later, she found out she was pregnant. By Evidence Chenjerai Senior Reporter “It only happened that one time,” she says. Ziwacha, now 19, doesn’t remember ever receiving any sex education in school. The little…

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An uptown girl’s battle with drug and substance use

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere DRUG and substance abuse in Zimbabwe is usually synonymous with the ghetto streets. A dirty, shabby, red eyed male figure is probably the first picture one envisions when they think of drug users and abusers. Well, here is a Newsflash, the drug crisis is equally endemic and deep rooted in uptown residential areas such as Borrowadale Brooke, Chisipite, Umwinsdale and others just as is the case with Ghettos like Mabvuku, Mbare, Fio, Kuwadzana, Mufakose and others. It also knows no gender as more and more girls are…

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