Category: Health News

Generation Health Joins the Cervical Cancer Awareness Movement

Healthtimes

Compliments of the new season! A time we plan for the year and what a better time to keep urging women to get screened for cervical cancer. According to the Lancet Journal, “each year, more than half a million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and the disease results in over 300 000 deaths worldwide.” To bring it closer to home it accounts for close to one third of cancers in Black Zimbabwean women and is also the number one cause of cancer deaths in Zimbabwe. Caroline Mbofana – Dyirakumunda…

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Harare Residents Concerned Over Rise In Child Sex Work and Drug Abuse

Michael Gwarisa

MOST Harare suburbs are experiencing a surge in cases of drug and substance and child sex work which many residents believe is being driven by the prolonged time the kids have spent outside learning institutions due to lockdown restrictions. By Michael Gwarisa Following the prolonged closure of schools due to recurring lockdown restrictions since 2020, most children have found solace in harmful practices such as sexual experimentation and drug and substance abuse. The massive job losses due to retrenchments and closure of some businesses during the lockdown have also impacted…

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UNHCR’s Protection Chief Concludes Three-Day Visit To Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

Supporting the Government’s efforts to protect and assist refugees and learn about the situation of refugees in the country dominated the visit of UNHCR’s Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Gillian Triggs, to Zimbabwe from 19 to 21 January. HealthTimes Reporter Triggs met with partners, donors, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Frederick Makamure Shava, and the Minister of Public Services, Labour & Social Welfare, Paul Mavima. We had very open and constructive discussions with the Government on all issues relating to the protection of refugees and asylum-seekers in…

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Antimicrobial Resistance Kills 1.2 Million People In One Year, Overtakes AIDS And Malaria

Healthtimes

More than 1.2 million people died worldwide in 2019 from infections caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotics, according to the largest study of the issue to date. SOURCE: BBC This is more than the annual death toll from malaria or Aids. Poorer countries are worst affected but antimicrobial resistance threatens everyone’s health, the report says. Urgent investment in new drugs and using current ones more wisely are recommended to protect against it. The overuse of antibiotics in recent years for trivial infections means they are becoming less effective against serious…

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Alternative Smoking Products Could Reduce Cancer Morbidity And Mortality

Michael Gwarisa

EVEN though quitting tobacco is by far the most effective means of tobacco harm reduction, it is difficult to achieve due to a myriad of factors chief among them being the addictive nature of Nicotine, hence the need to introduce innovative and less harmful alternative ways of reducing smoking related cancer deaths and illnesses, a top harm reduction expert has said. By Michael Gwarisa According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year and more than 7 million of those deaths are the…

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#BREAKING: Worrisome New Leprosy Cases Recorded In Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

ZIMBABWE recorded a worrisome sharp increase in new leprosy cases in 2020 with majority of cases having been recorded in Binga, Matabelenad North (Mat North), prompting government to activate and intensify Leprosy diagnosis and detection in other parts of the country that used to be Leprosy Hotspots. By Michael Gwarisa Traditional leprosy hotspots in Zimbabwe include Mat South (Gwanda and Bulimia), Mat North (Hwange and Binga), Mashonaland West (Makonde and Rafingora and farming areas around Rafingora), Zvimba (Hurungwe and Kariba). Masvingo (Chiredzi South in the Chikombedzi), Manicaland (Buhera and Chipinge),…

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Unsafe abortions lead to immediate and long term complications

Michael Gwarisa

COMPLICATIONS arising from post unsafe abortion infections could have long term implications on the fertility of women due to the unsterile nature of the environments and objects used during unsafe abortions procedures, a local Obstetrician and Gynecologist has warned.  . By Michael Gwarisa    Speaking to HealthTimes, Dr Grant Murewanhema an Obstetrician and Gynecologist said unsafe abortions were happening and unfortunately they were they were among the leading cause of maternal mortality in Zimbabwe. When you look at it just in the immediate short term after this act has been…

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Working in the UK Health Sector an Emotional Roller-coaster For Migrant Nurses

Michael Gwarisa

YOU might have read or heard about a Zimbabwean nurse who recently relocated to the United Kingdom (UK) only to die two months into her stay in the Diaspora. According preliminary reports from her close relatives and friends, Divine Mupoperi (30) died from suspected seizures she might have experienced in her sleep. She survived by three children, a 12 year old and twins who are 16 months old. May her dear Soul Rest in Eternal Peace. By Michael Gwarisa Even though this publication is not yet privy to Divine’s postmortem…

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PSI’s Hormonal IUD’s Popularity Grows In Africa

Michael Gwarisa

A new study that was conducted by the Population Service International (PSI) to ascertain the profiles of women who choose to use the hormonal Intrauterine Device (IUD) method of contraception have revealed that most users continued using the method due to high levels of satisfaction. By Michael Gwarisa The study is titled Introducing the hormonal Intrauterine Device in Madagascar, Nigeria, and Zambia: results from a pilot study. The study was conducted by Kendal Danna, the PSI Sexual and Reproductive Health Technical Advisor together with her partners where a longitudinal study…

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PrEP Uptake Still Very Low

Healthtimes

USE of daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), is not expanding enough as was anticipated. HealthTimes Reporter According to the the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) weekly report, the COVID-19 also had a negative impact on the uptake of the drug. “It has been more than a decade since the first evidence of the efficacy of daily oral pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) was published. PrEP is now a valuable additional option for people who are at higher risk of acquiring HIV, and its global uptake has continued to increase, despite…

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