Category: Features

Solar Energy Gives Zimbabwe’s Expanded Programme on Immunization Continuity

Michael Gwarisa

It’s an early Wednesday morning and Sister Marian Fadzi, the District Nursing Officer and her team at Mahusekwa District Hospital in Marondera are already preparing for a hectic day ahead where they intend to vaccinate children against Measles under the ongoing national measles vaccination drive. In a few days’ time, they will also commence a supplementary Polio vaccination programme at the Hospital as well as across all other 24 other health facilities in Marondera district. By Michael Gwarisa Despite the ongoing power outages due to prolonged load shedding schedules which…

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Future-Proofing SRHR Against shocks and emergencies through Integrating Healthcare Services

Michael Gwarisa

DURING the opening session of the East and Southern Africa regional SRHR symposium in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, United Nations Population Fund-East and Southern African Region  (UNFPA-ESARO)) Deputy Regional Director, Chinwe Ogbonna called on regional leaders and implementers of Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) to devise new strategies to protect the gains that have been attained in as far as SRHR is concerned. By Michael Gwarisa The symposium is running under the banner of the Joint UN Regional 2gether 4 SRHR Programme which combines the unique strengths and contributions of…

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Chipinge Broken Homes and Blended Families Give Rise Mental Health challenges in adolescents and children

Michael Gwarisa

WHEN his parents divorced in 2016, Panashe Dzvivu (19) from Chipinge urban, was doing form three and preparing to write his Ordinary level (O level) examinations the following year. Following the divorce, his father went into neighbouring South Africa and never looked back, leaving him under the custody of his unemployed mother. After some time, he was forced to drop out of school due to non-payment of school fees. By Michael Gwarisa recently in Chipinge Panashe was forced to juggle between school and a part welding job to pay for…

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Domestic Violence cases rise in Zimbabwe

Healthtimes

There has been an unprecedented rise in domestic violence cases in Zimbabwe. This has impelled the government to formulate and implement reactive laws to address the menace. One such instance has been the crafting of the Zimbabwe Domestic Violence Act (DVA) of 2007. By Own Correspondant  Thirty-year-old Sinakaniwe Ndlovu (not real name) still shivers with fear when she thinks of the ill treatment she received at the hands of her husband during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Ndlovu was forced to endure all the abuse in fear of being stigmatized and…

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Economic Induced Absenteeism Weighs Heavily On the Mental Health of Rural Manicaland School Children

Michael Gwarisa

For Alice Nyatsanga (16), school days are not something to cherish as they usually involve cat and mouse games with school authorities due to non-payment of school fees. To raise money for tuition, stationery and food, Alice is forced to join her grandmother in doing casual work in people’s fields as well as sell firewood by the road side along the busy Mutare/Masvingo Highway. By Michael Gwarisa in  Manicaland Province “At times, when we open schools, it does not matter lessons would have started, I have to abandon school for…

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Saving Lives and Livelihoods helping Africa fight COVID-19; One-shot at a time

Healthtimes

The Saving Lives and Livelihoods initiative, a $1.5 billion partnership between the Mastercard Foundation and the Africa CDC, is accelerating vaccination across the African continent. Considerable progress has been recorded across the four focus areas; purchase of vaccines for more than 65 million people, deployment of the vaccines across the continent, the development of a workforce that will manufacture vaccine in Africa and strengthening the capacity of the Africa CDC. So far, three countries have surpassed the 70% vaccination target; Seychelles (81.3%), Mauritius (76.6%0 and Rwanda (76.5%). Also, 10 countries…

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Finally, the girls can DREAM!

Michael Gwarisa

Tafadzwa Mabaya (16) is a data entry clerk at the Zimbabwe Health Interventions (ZHI) offices in Bulawayo. However, her story was not always this rosy. Back in 2016, Tafadzwa got married to a man from the apostolic sect. The marriage did not last as the man abusive and harbored polygamous intentions. By Michael Gwarisa She returned to stay with her mother in Marange where she was working. That is when she saw girls under the Determined, Resilient, Empowered, AIDS Free Mentored (DREAMS) program seated under a tree at a nearby…

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Here is why Blood is expensive in Zim

Michael Gwarisa

For a long time, there has been disgruntlement from various sections of society over the highly priced precious liquid of blood in Zimbabwe. The bone of contention over years has been around the cost of blood and blood products despite the fact that the National Blood Service of Zimbabwe (NBSZ) gets blood free of charge from blood donors. By Michael Gwarisa In 2018, the Ministry of Health and Child (MoHCC), then under the regime of Dr David Parirenyatwa launched the Free Blood Initiative that would see pregnant women and vulnerable…

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How nurses recruited from Zimbabwe are being caught in UK ‘bonded labour’ schemes

Healthtimes

NHS series: Care workers, lured from south east Africa to start their careers in this country, are being scammed and exploited by middlemen Zimbabwean care workers are being tricked into coming to the UK by unscrupulous middlemen who withhold up to half their wages and force them to live in squalor. The scam, which plays on the acute shortages of nursing and care staff across Britain’s hospitals and care homes, has echoes of the debt bondage schemes recently revealed to be impacting Indonesian farmers. Zimbabwe is in economic crisis and…

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Costly Hormonal Therapies Force Zim Trans Community To Get Shots from the streets

Michael Gwarisa

Teckler (31) is a transgender women from Highfields in Harare. Even though she was born a man, Tekcler says she had always struggled with the notion of waking up in a strange body every single day of her life. In her own words, she has always viewed herself as a woman and was always determined to be identified as one at some point in life. By Michael Gwarisa At the age of 20 when she enrolled in University in 2011, she once shocked her neighbourhood when she turned home for…

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