Health News |

Harare Institute For Public Health Caps 156 Graduands

June 26, 2023June 26, 2023 Kuda Pembere

ONE hundred and fifty–six people graduated at the second Harare Institute of Public Health (HIPH) graduation ceremony on Saturday after excelling and completing studies as pharmacy technicians, dispensary assistants and public health practitioners. By Kuda Pembere Speaking at the event, HIPH principal Dr Amos Marume said they gave been implementing heritage based solutions in their education curricula. The heritage-based solutions thrust being fronted by our very own Ministry is also one of our impor:ant guiding principles. Allow me to highlight some of the developments in brief. First, we have seen…

MCAZ warns of fatal skin disease medication side effects

June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 Healthtimes

The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe is calling on the public to report to them if they used Isotretinoin and Thalidomide which are specially restricted preparations dangerous enough to cause mental health disorders in children. These drugs are often bought after being prescribed by dermatologists, skin diseases experts. MCAZ Chief Regulation Officer – Enforcement Mrs Caroline Dandira-Samatanga in a statement noted they learned these medical products were widely on sale to the public despite the drugs being prescription drugs. The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) is mandated to protect…

Govt to decentralise Open Heart Surgeries

June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 Kuda Pembere

GOVERNMENT will decentralize the provision of open-heart surgeries in the country with the next facility targeted being Mpilo Central Hospital in Bulawayo. By Kuda Pembere Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantine Chiwenga said this on the sidelines of a tour of Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals which resumed the open-heart surgery procedures. PGH is at the moment the only health facility in the country doing this procedure. The first patient to have this procedure performed on is a 29-year-old Ms Blessing Bonda who was diagnosed as…

More Than Half Of Oil Based Paints Produced In Zimbabwe Contain Deadly Substance-Study Finds

June 22, 2023June 22, 2023 Healthtimes

A study done by the University of Zimbabwe has revealed that 70 percent of oil based paints manufactured in the country contain dangerous levels of lead. By Staff Reporter The study done last year in partnership with the Lead Exposure Elimination Project (LEEP) sought to determine the presence of lead in paint made in Zimbabwe. A one-day workshop was held to raise awareness on the dangers of lead poisoning and for players and stakeholders to come up with means to reduce its impact. In 2022, the University of Zimbabwe and…

600 adults on Zim’s open heart surgery waiting list

June 22, 2023 Kuda Pembere

WITH Zimbabwe set to resume its open-heart surgeries on Thursday, there are about 600 adults waiting on the line alongside 4 000 children who are waiting to receive this operation. By Kuda Pembere Speaking with HealthTimes, specialist cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon Dr Simukayi Machawira said every year, about 4 000 children in the country are born having a heart condition. What I can tell is that roughly we have about 600 adult patients on the waiting list. As for children, there are about 4 000 children born with a heart…

MSF Provides mental health support for refugees

June 21, 2023June 21, 2023 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…

Urban Household Food Insecurity Declines In Zimbabwe

June 19, 2023June 19, 2023 Healthtimes

A cocktail of measures and strategies being implemented in Zimbabwe have resulted in positive outcomes to the urban households’ food security situation, the latest Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZIMVAC) survey has projected. By Staff Reporter According to the survey, food insecurity levels for urban areas are projected to have significantly decreased from 42 percent reported in 2020 to 29 percent in 2023. Midlands (40 percent) had the highest proportion of households projected to be food insecure. Matabeleland South (22 percent) and Mashonaland Central (25 percent) had the least proportion of…

Birth control pills may increase the risk of depression

June 19, 2023 Healthtimes

Depression is one of the most common mental illnesses and can have several debilitating symptoms. Researchers are still learning what factors contribute to depression risk. A recent study found that oral contraceptives may increase depression risk among adolescent and adult women, particularly in the first two years of use. By Jessica Norris on June 17, 2023 — Fact checked by Alexandra Sanfins, Ph.D. Research is ongoing about what factors influence a person’s risk for depression. Often depression risk involves a combination of internal and external factors. Modifying certain risk factors…

CIRAD sets up Zoonotic diseases lab for Zim

June 19, 2023 Healthtimes

The French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development, (CIRAD) recently launched a €1million (USD1,084,070) state of the art biometric laboratory at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) for researching on animal and zoonotic diseases. By Staff Reporter Speaking to the press after the launch, CIRAD Zimbabwe CEO, Dr Mathieu Bourgarel said he was proud that the Zimbabwean lab mirrors CIRAD’s lab in France. The biometric platform was a long term project. The PACMAN project and the CAZCOM project put in more than €1million in setting up the equipment and renovating the…

CeSSHAR, NAC empower Beitbridge sex workers

June 18, 2023January 18, 2024 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…