Health News |

Demystifying Asthma: One On One With Asthma and Allergies Guru

January 23, 2020January 23, 2020 Michael Gwarisa

HAVE you ever felt like a 100 inch mega Wrench is grippingly tightening your chest and your lungs are about to explode and its driving you crazy? You gasp for air, and you feel this tense sensation accompanied by a dry cough and whizzing. You feel dead already and the temptation to sing “Nearer My God To Thee” is so compelling. Don’t panic as yet, its probably Asthma and all hope is not lost as yet. With earlier diagnosis, proper treatment and management the symptoms could be gone within weeks.…

Harare Central Hospital To Pilot UAE, Estonia e-Health Project

January 22, 2020January 23, 2020 Healthtimes

THE United Arab Emirates Government has brought in Estonian e-Health experts to Zimbabwe as part of its commitment to improve the country’s health delivery system. By Kudakwashe Pembere This is the third time the UAE visited has visited Zimbabwe on health related matters with this time, the nation expected to benefit from the strong expertise of Estonia on e-health issues. Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo said the Estonian experts will compliment the projects done in Mashonaland East province which seek to digitalise health records in hospitals. He…

ZAN Spells Out Community Centered Vision For 2020

January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 Healthtimes

THE country has made significant strides in its HIV/AIDS response with government working hand in glove with civil society organisations working within and with communities. The tagline for the 2020 HIV response worldwide is ‘Communities Make The Difference’ as nations aim to reach the 90-90-90 targets of having 90 percent tested, 90 percent of those tested getting on treatment and the 90 percent on treatment having a suppressed viral load. Derailing efforts made in reducing the HIV/AIDS burden in Zimbabwe are psychological issues such as stigma, denial and defaulting as…

Here Is Why Zimbabwe Should Be On High Alert For CoronaVirus

January 22, 2020January 22, 2020 Michael Gwarisa

IN December 2019, an outbreak of a rare flue like virus was reported in China and has since infected hundreds since it was diagnosed in Wuhan, China. By Michael Gwarisa Chinese health expert and scientist who first decoded the virus believes the virus which could be a cousin to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus which killed hundreds of people a few year back could have started in animals and spread to humans. On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was informed of a cluster of cases…

#BREAKING: Junior Doctors Finally Accept Masiyiwa’s Offer

January 21, 2020 Michael Gwarisa

THE Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) has finally accepted the Higherlife Foundation mentorship offer, a move that is likely to bring some sanity to the health sector. By Michael Gwarisa In November last year at the height of the doctors strike as a result of incapacitation, the Foundation offered a ZWL100 Million, Training Fellowship for Junior and Senior Resident Medical Officers employed at Public Healthcare institutions of Zimbabwe. However most members from the ZHDA has spurned the offer saying government should come up with long lasting solution to their crisis.…

Health Seeking Behavior Declines As Poverty Bites Zimbabweans

January 21, 2020 Healthtimes

HEALTH seeking behaviour in the country has been deteriorating between 2017 and 2019 owing to high poverty levels coupled with unavailability of some health services, a 2019 Mini Poverty, Income, Consumption and Expenditure Survey (PICES) report shows. By Kudakwashe Pembere Presenting the latest findings at the launch of the 2017 PICES and 2019 Mini PICES, World Bank Senior Economist Rob Swinkels said the survey was a follow upon the 2017 PICS. In 2017, the proportion of people who got sick in the past 30days for rural populace was 12percent increasing…

#BREAKING: Doctors To Expand Emergency Services In Public Hospitals

January 21, 2020 Michael Gwarisa

SENIOR doctors have agreed to expand the emergency services mode in hospitals in a bid to ease the suffering masses. By Michael Gwarisa In a statement, the Senior Doctors Association of Zimbabwe (SHDA) said the resolution was agreed on following a an exercise they carried out early this year where they went through the hospitals together with hospital managers; to inspect and physically see the restocking that had been done as well as highlighting on the state of the hospital equipment in the central hospitals around the country. The exercise…

How Animal Medications Are Fueling Drug Resistance In Humans

January 21, 2020January 22, 2020 Healthtimes

ITS 10:00 in the morning and a Harare man walks into one of the Agroshops licensed as Veterinary Medicine General Dealers in the central business district enquiring of a possible remedial solution for his dying chickens. By Kudakwashe Pembere Panting heavily and with a sad look, he tells the cashier the symptoms. Even though the attendant advises that the man takes the dead chickens for a post mortem, he proceeds to dispense some Oxytetetracycline which he says could cure the birth flue and get rid of the bacterial infection. He…

Smoking greatly increases risk of complications after surgery

January 21, 2020 Michael Gwarisa

TOBACCO smokers are at significantly higher risk than non-smokers for post-surgical complications including impaired heart and lung functions, infections and delayed or impaired wound healing. HealthTimes Reporter But new evidence reveals that smokers who quit approximately 4 weeks or more before surgery have a lower risk of complication and better results 6 months afterwards. Patients who quit smoking tobacco are less likely to experience complications with anesthesia when compared to regular smokers. A new joint study by the World Health Organization (WHO), the University of Newcastle, Australia and the World…

Zim To Host 6th Africa SDG Conference

January 21, 2020 Healthtimes

ZIMBABWE will next month host the sixth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development. The country committed to make progress in 2015 towards achieving the sustainable development goals. By Kudakwashe Pembere The event will be running under the theme, “2020-2030, A Decade To A Transformed And Prosperous Africa Through The 2030 Agenda.” Addressing journalists, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Dr Sekesai Nzenza said this forum is an inter-governmental and multisectoral platform convened annually by the economic commission for Africa in collaboration with the African union commission.…