Health News |

Zimbabwe Deploys Brand New Cutting Age Tech To Enhance AMR Diagnostic Tests

February 28, 2023 Healthtimes

Over reliance on antibiotics has also led to the growing silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) over the years. AMR happens when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve and stop responding to antimicrobials over time. By Dr Tapfumaneyi Mashe The Extended Spectrum Beta-Lactamase Escherichia coli (ESBL Ec) Tricycle study’s preliminary findings indicated that multidrug-resistant bacteria were widely distributed in Zimbabwe. Additionally, the 2015 AMR situation analysis in Zimbabwe revealed that only 25% of public health laboratories have the manpower, resources, and supplies required to perform culture and antibiotic susceptibility testing…

Zimbabwe In Top 10 African Countries With Highest Prevalence Of Second Hand Tobacco Smoking

February 28, 2023 Michael Gwarisa

WHILE smoking of combustible tobacco products is on the decline in other parts of the world, countries in the East and Southern Africa region continue to record high levels of second hand smoking (SHS). By Michael Gwarisa This is despite documented evidence that exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) was one of the leading risk factors for deaths globally in 2019, accounting for approximately 1.3 million deaths and contributing to 37 million Disability-Adjusted life years (DALYs), with 11.2 percent of the burden in children under the age of 5 years.…

‘It’s been 20 Years of Saving Zimbabwean Lives’: PEPFAR’s Carey Speaks on 20 years Anniversary

February 27, 2023February 27, 2023 Michael Gwarisa

THE year 2023, January 28 to be precise, marked exactly 20 years since American President George W. Bush announced the creation of the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (#PEPFAR) during his State of the Union address. The new initiative included the goal of providing HIV treatment to two million people living with HIV over five years with a budget of USD$15 billion dollars. This was the birth of PEPFAR, now the largest commitment by any nation to address a single disease. The new initiative included the goal of…

Cyclone Freddy still coming to Zim

February 25, 2023February 25, 2023 Kuda Pembere

With tropical Cyclone Freddy forcing schools to close on Friday in Zimbabwe and not turning up as anticipated, now is not the time for Zimbabweans to lower their guard as it still poses massive rainfall threat to South Eastern Zimbabwe. By Kudakwashe Pembere Inasmuch as there are clear skies, Cyclone Freddy delayed by 12 hours coming into Zimbabwe weaker. “The former Tropical Cyclone Freddy weather system made landfall in Mozambique—south of Vilanculos in Inhambane Province—on 24 February as a moderate tropical storm. The system is now expected to weaken over…

JustIn: Zim Schools close as Cyclone Freddy closes in

February 23, 2023February 23, 2023 Kuda Pembere

ZIMBABWE’S education authorities have ordered the closure of schools on Friday in the wake of Cyclone Freddy expected this weekend. By Kudakwashe Pembere In a circular seen by this publication, Primary and Secondary Education Ministry permanent secretary Mrs Tumisang Thabela said schools Manicaland, Masvingo, Matabeleland South, ( parts bordering Masvingo), Mashonaland East. Mashonaland Central provinces as well as Harare Metropolitan province will be closed. “The above subject matter refers Tropical Storm Freddy may bring heavy rains over Eastern Zimbabwe and. “hereafter spread to other parts of the country from 24…

Third person cured of HIV after stem cell transplant, researchers say

February 22, 2023 Healthtimes

A stem cell transplant has cured a man of HIV, researchers have announced. The patient, 53, is only the third person to be cured of the condition using the treatment. He appears to be the fifth person in total to be cured overall. He had not taken anti-retroviral medicine, or suppressants, for four years and has not relapsed. Similar to the other two stem cell transplant patients – one in Berlin and another in London – the man, in Dusseldorf, had the transplant to treat a blood disorder, which in…

In The Absence Of National Regulation For Vapour Products, Youth Access Prevention Must Be Self-Policed

February 22, 2023 Healthtimes

PRETORIA, South Africa, 13 February 2023 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- Be it social media, the news, or your community WhatsApp group, there has been no shortage of commentary about the apparent escalation of vaping among teenagers. In a market sector largely unregulated in South Africa, it is seemingly too easy for teenagers to access Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems/Electronic Non-Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS/ENNDS) also known as Electronic Vapour Products (EVPs). By Staff Reporter “The concern that young people are easily able to access these products is completely valid,” says Asanda Gcoyi, Chief Executive of…

No safety concerns seen with use of dapivirine vaginal ring during third trimester of pregnancy, according to interim results of DELIVER study

February 21, 2023February 21, 2023 Healthtimes

So far, so good’; Results of first two cohorts reported as third and final cohort is ongoing PITTSBURGH, February 20, 2023 – A vaginal ring containing the antiretroviral drug dapivirine posed no safety concerns when used in the third trimester of pregnancy, according to results to date from the first study of the dapivirine ring during pregnancy and one of only a few studies of an HIV prevention product in pregnant cisgender women. The ongoing Phase IIIb study, known as DELIVER, or MTN-042, was designed to evaluate the safety and…

SET A THIEF TO CATCH A THIEF: How AWET Health interventions have reduced home deliveries Among Apostolic Women and Girls in Shurugwi

February 20, 2023February 20, 2023 Michael Gwarisa

Caroline Ngosha (23), from Shurugwi is expecting her third child in a few months’ time. In both her previous pregnancies, she delivered her children at home in line with the dictates of her religion, a white garment apostolic sect. Some apostolic sects in Zimbabwe do not allow their followers to use family planning or contraception methods. Neither do they sanction female followers to register with the Anti Natal Clinic (ANC), later on deliver in a health institution. By Michael Gwarisa in Shurugwi She remembers vividly how life threatening giving birth…

#BREAKING: Zim records cholera cases

February 19, 2023February 19, 2023 Kuda Pembere

Two cholera cases have been identified by Zimbabwe’s health authorities in Chegutu with one having been confirmed and another still under investigation. By Kuda Pembere The SADC region has been recording cholera cases with Malawi being the most affected.The cases come five years after Zimbabwe managed to control the 2018 epidemic. On the 15th of February 2023, Zimbabwe confirmed a case of cholera in Chegutu town, Mashonaland West Province, having presented with watery diarrhoea and vomiting on the 12th of February 2023. On the 17th of February 2023 a second…