Category: Health News

Zimbabwe Launches Mass Drug Administration Against Blinding Tracoma

Healthtimes

The Ministry of Health and Child Care working together with SightSavers, World Vision, Basilizwi Trust and WelthungerHilfe has launched a mass treatment / Mass Drug Administration (MDA) campaign for the treatment of trachoma disease which if left untreated causes blindness. Health Reporter A ten-day mass treatment campaign will run in the districts of Shamva, Bindura, Rushinga, Binga, Marondera, Nyanga, Mutasa and Gweru beginning on the 11th July of 2022 to the 20th of July 2022. The mass treatment for trachoma prevents children and adults from going needlessly blind. All people…

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WHO’s Science Council launches report calling for equitable expansion of genomics

Michael Gwarisa

WHO’s Science Council of experts has issued its first report, on accelerating access to genomics for global health. The report argues that it is not justifiable ethically or scientifically for less-resourced countries to gain access to such technologies long after rich countries do. The field of genomics uses methods from biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology to understand and use biological information in DNA and RNA, with benefits for medicine and public health – especially during the COVID-19 pandemic – as well as agriculture, biological research and more. The report calls…

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Urgent call for better use of existing vaccines and development of new vaccines to tackle AMR

Michael Gwarisa

The World Health Organization today released the first-ever report on the pipeline of the vaccines currently in development to prevent infections caused by antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacterial pathogens. WHO’s analysis points to the need to accelerate trials for AMR related vaccines in late-stage development and maximise the use of existing vaccines. Own Correspondent The silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance is of major growing public health concern. Resistant bacterial infections alone are associated with nearly 4.95 million deaths per year, with 1.27 million deaths directly attributed to AMR.  But AMR is about…

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We are ready to step aside says PSMAS board

Healthtimes

THE battle to control the country’s biggest medical aid society, PSMAS, has reached a crescendo, with indications that all parties involved in this battle for supremacy are digging in. HealthTimes Reporter The ongoing battle involves leaders of the Public Service Association (PSA), and the Zimbabwe Confederation of Public Sector Unions (ZCPSTU), the defunct PSMAS board, PSMAS and the government through the Public Service Commission (PSC). Insiders from within PSMAS have since blamed members from the old board members and union leaders for trying to derail the ongoing Forensic Audit by…

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30 Percent Zim Youths Hooked On Crystal Meth

Michael Gwarisa

CRYSTAL Meth use has increased in Zimbabwe amidst indications of a sharp increase in bed occupancy in mental health institutions due to high use of illicit drugs and substances. By Michael Gwarisa It is estimated that the proportion of young people in Zimbabwe between 16 and 35 could have or are using illicit substances. There is also an increase in the number of admissions in mental health institutions due to illicit substance use. Wilson Box, the Chief Executive Officer for Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network (ZCLDN) told editors at…

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Zim ready for long term injectable PrEP-MoHCC

Healthtimes

IN a bid to increase adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) in Zimbabwe, the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) said it welcomes obtaining studies to advance prevention therapy through long term injectable Pre-Exposure prophylaxes medications. By Staff Reporter This follows the approval of Apretude (cabotegravir extended-release injectable suspension) in 2021 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This will be taken in at-risk adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kilograms (77 pounds) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV. However, in Zimbabwe, current…

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One In Every Five People Is Living With HIV In Mat South

Michael Gwarisa

MATABELELAND South (Mat South) has an HIV prevalence of 20%, a figure higher than the national prevalence which currently stands at 11.6%, making it the provinces with highest number of people living with HIV in the country. By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe has a total 1.3 million people living with HIV and basing on the national HIV and AIDS prevalence percentage of 11.6%, this translates to one in every nine people living with HIV across the country. Giving an epidemic update, National AIDS Council (NAC) Monitoring and Evaluation National Coordinator, Mr…

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Don’t Let The HIV Story Die, Gvt Tells Journalists

Michael Gwarisa

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) says even though Zimbabwe is moving closer to epidemic control, more still needs to be done in terms of amplifying the message of HIV prevention, treatment and control. By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is one of the countries most affected by HIV and the pandemic has had a reversal effect on the socio-economic progress that our country achieved over the years. Officiating at the National AIDS Council Editors and Station Managers Workshop in Mazowe on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Child…

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Parliament Wants Presidential Amnesty For All Wilful Transmission Of HIV Prisoners

Michael Gwarisa

THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health chairperson, Dr Ruth Labode says they have already lobbied President Emerson Mnangwa through the Speaker of Parliament seeking amnesty for everyone who was imprisoned on the grounds of wilful transmission of HIV. By Michael Gwarisa in Mazowe The development follows Parliament of Zimbabwe’s recent repealing of section 79 of the Criminal Law Code, which criminalized wilful HIV transmission. According to the National Aids Council (NAC), Zimbabwe currently has the highest rate of HIV criminalization prosecutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and the sixth highest in the…

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More funding needed for the child protection sector in Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

At a High-Level Policy Dialogue event, key stakeholders in child protection agreed that more needs to be done to address the many protection issues children face   The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, UNICEF and the Zimbabwe Economics Society today convened a High-Level Policy Dialogue on Child Protection Financing in Zimbabwe. The Dialogue is part of the Child Budgeting Series initiated by UNICEF and Zimbabwe Economics Society (ZES) in partnership with the Government of Zimbabwe. The meeting today comes at a pivotal moment as many children face…

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