Health News |

Senior Doctors Declare Incapacitation

October 1, 2019October 1, 2019 Healthtimes

ZIMBABWE’S senior doctors have joined junior doctors in declaring incapacitation citing their remuneration is not at par with regional standards. By Kudakwashe Pembere With a month passing by since junior doctors’ industrial action, the senior doctors’ throwing weight behind their juniors will leave the state owned hospital void of any doctor. The Senior Hospital Doctors Association (SHDA) said, “In terms of section 65(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, we have a right to fair and safe labour practices and standards and to be paid a fair and reasonable wage. Our…

Speed Up Medical Aid Services Bill, ED Tells Parliament

October 1, 2019 Healthtimes

PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa says parliamentarians should expedite the tabling of the Medical Aid Services Bill. By Kudakwashe Pembere He said this while presenting the State Of The Nation Address (SONA) and official opening of the second session of the Ninth Parliament on Tuesday. The Medical Aid Societies bill will pave way for the establishment of the Medical Aid Society Regulatory Authority. This bill seeks to ensure that medical aid societies operate within the law as healthcare insurers rather than doubling up as healthcare providers,” said the President. He bemoaned the…

Go Further Partnership Reaches Over Half a Million HIV-Positive Women with Cervical Cancer Screening in its First Year

October 1, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

The United States’ PEPFAR program, the George W. Bush Institute, Merck and UNAIDS are aiming to end AIDS and cervical cancer in Sub-Saharan Africa within a generation through an innovative public-private partnership On the margins of the 2019 United Nations General Assembly, former President George W. Bush and Ambassador Deborah L. Birx announced that the Go Further partnership to end AIDS and cervical cancer has reached over half a million HIV-positive women with cervical cancer screening and treated thousands of women for pre-invasive cancerous lesions in its first year. The…

Prominent Zim Health Journalist Dies In Namibia

October 1, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

PATIENCE Nyangove, a Zimbabwean born Journalist has succumbed to a brain infection in Namibia. Patience has been hospitalised at a Windhoek hospital over the past months after doctors detected a brain infection. Until the time of her demise she has been a senior journalist at The Confidente Newspaper in Namibia. A top-drawer reporter covering health, hard news, investigative and feature writing, Patience has over 15 years working experience in print industry. Her journalism career began in Zimbabwe where she worked for the AMH Media Holdings which publishes The Standard, NewsDay…

Bilharzia Causing Worm Increases Risk Of HIV Infection

October 1, 2019October 1, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

SCHISTOSTOMIASIS, the worm that causes Bilharzia can increase the risk of infection. Article Originally Written by Felicia Wong Fresh water sources are a lifeline to so many people across Africa. And yet they can harbour parasitic worms that increase the risk of HIV for women and girls. Share “Have you heard of schistosomiasis or bilharzia? Did you know that there is a link with HIV?” This has been my opening line for many conversations over the last two years. It was (and still is) often met with a pause. Mostly…

Doctors Strike Enters Fourth Week

September 30, 2019September 30, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

TODAY marks exactly four weeks since government doctors declared incapacitation as a result of poor living conditions, amidst indications that there could be no hope in sight to the end of the industrial action should government fail to meet their demands. By Michael Gwarisa In a statement, Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) acting Secretary General, Dr Tawanda Zvakada said doctors were committed to resuming work and saving lives but the situation on the ground was no longer workable. Several engagements have been made with the employer to come and address…

‘Shun Stigma Towards People With Ostomy’

September 30, 2019 Healthtimes

HEALTH workers and homecare givers should stop stigmatising people living with ostomy through offering psychosocial support. By Kudakwashe Pembere Ostomy is a surgery where surgeons create an opening also known as stoma from an area inside the body to the outside to treat digestive or urinary systems. This came out during a sensitisation meeting on ostomy on Monday hosted by Ileostomy Colostomy Zimbabwe Trust. A Sister in Charge at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in the departments of Oncology and Pallative Care Roseline Changondolo urged nurses to shun arrogance when managing…

Zim Runs Out Of Baby Growth Monitoring Charts

September 30, 2019September 30, 2019 Healthtimes

ZIMBABWEAN mothers have gone for several months without baby growth monitoring chart cards and have since resorted to clinic or hospital cards used for ‘over fives’, HealthTimes has learnt. By Kudakwashe Pembere The unavailability of these ‘baby cards’ has deprived mothers access to critical growth monitoring information, plunging the health of babies in jeopardy. Health Ministry’s Family Health Director Dr Bernard Madzima told this publication the importance of these cards. “The cards which you are talking about are called ‘Road To Health Cards’ or ‘Growth Monitoring Cards’. They are for…

Guruve Couples Turn To Withdrawal Method…As Contraceptives Crisis Deepens

September 28, 2019September 28, 2019 Michael Gwarisa

IT’S a chilly evening in the sandy plains of Guruve and everyone is tucked in their homes waiting to have a hot meal and take an evening nap. Everyone is talking about the change of weather and how all of a sudden, September has turned out to be freezing while some ambitious farmers are already contemplating tilling the land. By Michael Gwarisa recently in Guruve For married couples, evenings are like what Christmas is to a five year old. It is a well-known and scientifically proven fact that men get…

240 Nurses Graduate At Parirenyatwa Hospital

September 27, 2019 Healthtimes

ABOUT 240 nurses trained at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals graduated on Friday as registered general nurses, midwives, renal nurses, ophthalmology, theatre, anesthetics, Intensive Care Unit nurses,and administrative nurses. By Kudakwashe Pembere Officiating the graduation ceremony on behalf of the Health and Child Care Minister Dr Obadiah Moyo, Health Service Board vice chair Professor Auxillia Munodawafa-Chideme said the training fostered key principles of health quality assurance and improvement. This includes ensuring a patient centred, participatory and equitable approach. A holistic approach to patient care which considers patients’ preferences, needs and values…