Health News |

Remunerate Health Workers Well and STOP The Brain Drain Warns CWGH

May 1, 2023May 1, 2023 Michael Gwarisa

THE Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has issued a strong statement regarding the plight of healthcare workers in their International Workers Day solidarity message. By Michael Gwarisa CWGH Executive Director, Mr Itai Rusike said the current brain drain that has hit the healthcare sector was as a result of the deplorable living and working conditions the workers are exposed to. As the World celebrates the Workers’ Day today, the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) calls upon the government to remunerate the health workers well and improve their working…

Media, a critical partner in ending TB

May 1, 2023 Healthtimes

A THIRD of tuberculosis (TB) infections in Southern Africa are linked to mining activities and recent studies estimate that 3 to 7 percent of miners are becoming ill with TB each year (TIMS Epidemiological Study,2012). Health Times Reporter in Johannesburg, South Africa To address these challenges, media practitioners from 12 SADC member countries converged yesterday, 27 April 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa for a two-days capacity building workshop to enhance informed reporting on TB-related issues including TB in the mining sector at the invitation of the East, Central and Southern…

Recognition and support for village health workers in Zimbabwe: Panacea to ensure the success of primary health care and universal health coverage

May 1, 2023 Healthtimes

By: Enock Musungwini, MPH, MBA The Zimbabwe Village Health Worker programme began in the 1980s, soon after independence, with the aim of enhancing access to primary health care (PHC) services in line with the then Alma Ata Declaration (1978) and now the Astana Declaration (2018) and Universal Health Coverage (UHC 2030). According to the World Health Organisation, “primary health care is a whole-of-society approach to health that aims at ensuring the highest possible level of health and well-being and their equitable distribution by focusing on people’s needs and as early…

An uptown girl’s battle with drug and substance use

May 1, 2023April 23, 2024 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…

Zimbabwe records more than 95% measles vaccination coverage in Apostolic sects

May 1, 2023 Michael Gwarisa

FOLLOWING a measles outbreak that spread throughout the country in 2022, killing and infecting mainly unvaccinated children from apostolic sects in Zimbabwe, the country has witnessed an increase in coverage for measles vaccination in apostolic groups. By Michael Gwarisa The measles outbreak was first recorded in Mutasa District in Manicaland Province where several unvaccinated children from the Marange Apostolic sect, a highly vaccine hesitant group, succumbed to Measles before spreading to some parts of Mashonaland and Midlands provinces. According to data from Amnesty International Zimbabwe, 750 children below the age…

West End Hospital reopens next week

April 28, 2023April 28, 2023 Kuda Pembere

WEST END Hospital, a flagship unit of Premier Service Medical Investments (PSMI) will open its doors to the public on May 2 after seven months of closure. By Kuda Pembere This comes as a relief to PSMAS membership which often times would be returned home without getting treatment due to the workers’ strike. The closure was as a result of the company’s employees who complained of salary non-payment with the management then blaming the closure on “cash flow ceilings affecting the major client, Premier Service Medical Aid Society (PSMAS).” PSMI…

11 Budiriro Residents Contract Cholera after Drinking Water from Contaminated Well

April 27, 2023April 27, 2023 Michael Gwarisa

THE Harare City Health Department has activated emergency Cholera response systems in the midst of an unfolding Cholera situation which has seen three confirmed, and 11 suspected cholera cases being recorded over the past five days in Budiriro 1. By Michael Gwarisa The 11 suspected cases and the confirmed three, all emanate from one area in Budiriro 1 where residents get water from an unprotected water source. The new development raises fears of a repeat of the 2008 and 2018 Cholera outbreak that killed and infected several thousands of people.…

The Big Catch Up: Zimbabwe Launches Integrated Vaccination Drive To Cover Lost Ground

April 26, 2023April 26, 2023 Michael Gwarisa

IN a move that is set to catapult Zimbabwe’s vaccination coverage to dizzy heights, the country has already started implementing an integrated vaccination drive in communities mainly prioritizing Human papillomavirus vaccines (HPV), COVID-19, Tetanus and Diphtheria (DT). By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe’s integrated vaccination drive is in line with the “The Big Catch-up”, a targeted global effort to boost vaccination among children following declines driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. The campaign is being led by the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Bill & Melinda Gates…

19 Percent Of Zimbabweans Unemployed

April 26, 2023 Kuda Pembere

Zimbabwe’s official national unemployment rate during the first quarter of 2023 stood at 19 percent while the expanded unemployment rate for the nation was 46.7 percent. By Staff Reporter The expanded unemployment rate is defined as a person between the ages of 15 and 64 who is without a job, willing and able to work but is not actively searching for a job. Presenting the Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (Zimstat) 2023 First Quarter Quarterly Labour Force Survey Results, Director General Mr Taguma Mahonde said there was an increase in the number…

Global Fund Allocates US$63 million To Fight Malaria In Zimbabwe

April 26, 2023April 26, 2023 Michael Gwarisa

The Global Fund currently has three active investments in Zimbabwe, including one malaria grant of up to US$63 million. By Michael Gwarisa This funding is allocated for 2021-2023 and supports Zimbabwe’s continued progress toward ending the three diseases as public health threats. The other two grants comprise one HIV grant of up to US$449 million and a tuberculosis (TB) grant of up to US$26 million. According to Global Fund, malaria mortality in Zimbabwe has fallen by 75 percent and malaria incidence by 84 percent over the past two decades. Regarding…