Category: Health News

NAC sponsored goat project helps feed Gwanda Prison inmates

Kuda Pembere

A goat rearing project at the Gwanda Prison Farm in the Maphane area, sponsored by the National AIDS Council(NAC), is proving to be a force to reckon with as the project has grown to the extent of being expanded into prisons and correctional facilities. By Kudakwashe Pembere recently in Gwanda The goat-rearing project commenced in 2015 following a donation by NAC of 83 goats to the prison. Over the years, the project at the prison now has a herd of about 204 and cumulatively the Matebeleland South province now boasts…

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Five reasons why the next pandemic could come from bats

Michael Gwarisa

Viruses that jump from animals to humans are the likely sources of major health threats, say scientists, and bats are the number one suspect. By Priya Joi Viruses that spill over from bats to humans have caused some of the world’s deadliest outbreaks. The latest COVID-19 pandemic is potentially just one example, as a virus related to coronaviruses in bats. A new Reuters special report reveals how the onwards march of industrial development means we are constantly encroaching into bat habitats, massively increasing the risk of another global pandemic. Widespread…

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Zimbabwe Government Scraps Mandatory Wearing of Masks…Visitors No Longer Require Proof Of Vaccination

Healthtimes

Zimbabwe has officially scrapped most of the COVID-19 mandatory measures such as mask wearing and others following an announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) that the disease was no longer a public health emergency of international concern. By Staff Reporter In the Statutory Instrument 102 of 2023, the Vice President and Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Constantine Chiwenga directed a lift on the mandatory wearing of masks. Further, tourists are no longer mandated to produce COVID-19 vaccination certificates nor should they have negative PCR tests at 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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POSB Donates Sanitary Wear to Marimasimbe Secondary School Girls in Gokwe

Kuda Pembere

THE People’s Own Saving Bank (POSB), a leading financial services provider in the country has donated sanitary wear to Marimasimbe Secondary School girls in Gokwe as part of its contribution towards promoting access to menstrual hygiene products through its ‘Donate a Pad and Keep a Girl in School’ launched early this year. By Staff Reporter Through this initiative, staff members donate pads or leave days which are converted to cash used to purchase sanitary wear. The Bank also contributes by matching the staff donation. The pads are then distributed to…

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Youth involvement in agriculture is key to accelerating climate action in Africa

Healthtimes

By Dickson Naftali Africa is one of the world’s most vulnerable regions to climate shocks. The continent’s overdependence on rain-fed agriculture and pastoralism exposes it to the vagaries of climate change. As a result, hunger affects 282 million Africans, a number that will grow to 350 million by 2050. Many of these victims are young people who are increasingly jobless on account of the failing farms and other enterprises across the agricultural value chain. This large youth population is constantly entering the labour market requiring African economies, which are predominantly…

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Solar for Health Project Boosts Pharmaceutical Cold Chain Capacity In Masvingo

Michael Gwarisa

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) collaborated on the Solar for Health (S4H) initiative, which has been extremely beneficial to the National Pharmaceutical Company of Zimbabwe (Natpharm). By Michael Gwarisa Since 2017, 1045 out of the 1,600 public health institutions in Zimbabwe that are part of the S4H project—which is financed by The Global Fund—have had solar systems installed. The solar system makes sure that vital health departments, such maternity, intensive care operating rooms, pharmacy, and laboratories, always have power. In order…

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AMREF Boss Appointed UN Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Member

Michael Gwarisa

Dr Githinji Gitahi, Group CEO – Amref Health Africa has been appointed as a member of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement Lead Group – a global initiative dedicated to eradicating all forms of malnutrition by 2030. The movement prioritizes nutrition action and collaboration, which includes supporting countries to implement policies and legislation that guarantees the availability of sustainable and nutritious diets for children, adolescents, mothers, and families. By Michael Gwarisa Dr Gitahi, in his role as the Kenyan representative, will join other notable global leaders in overseeing the strategic…

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Media a key ally in promoting health for all- WHO Rep

Michael Gwarisa

WORLD Health Organisation Zimbabwe country Representative, Professor Jean Marie Dangou has emphasized the need for media to collaborate with stakeholders in the healthcare sector in order to create an informed society. By Michael Gwarisa He said this while welcoming health Journalists and members of the Health Communicators Forum (HCF) in Zimbabwe to a Media Science Café on COVID-19 that was held at the WHO Offices in Harare. It is also pleasing to know that there is a group of dedicated health journalists in Zimbabwe. This makes it easier for coordination…

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COVID-19 no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern……WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Michael Gwarisa

FOR the past three years, the world literally came to a halt at the back of a raging COVID-19 pandemic that claimed and infected millions of people. According data, globally, as of 7 May 2023, over 765 million confirmed cases and over 6.9 million deaths had been reported to the World Health Organisation (WHO). By Michael Gwarisa Compared to other pandemics that have been experienced in the history of public health, COVID-19 has the least fatalities. For example, HIV and AIDS known as the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immunodeficiency…

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