Category: Health News

Zimbabwe Advised To Adopt Annual Covid-19 Vaccination That Covers New Strains For High Risk Groups Amid Waning Vaccine Effectiveness

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Data from a new study that sought to examine vaccine effectiveness in light of circulating Coronavirus variants following vaccination, has shown that the effectiveness of vaccines that were widely administered in Zimbabwe between 2021 and 2022 has weakened against emerging COVID-19 variants. The study dubbed COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness and SARS CoV-2 variants in Zimbabwe: Test Negative Case-Control study, Genetic sequencing and Serology (ZIMCoVVAR) was a test-negative case-control study to evaluate the effectiveness of inactivated vaccines and was conducted from November 2022 to October 2023. The study did…

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President Mnangagwa appoints Dr Pasi Health Service Commission Secretary

Healthtimes

By Staff Reporter Sally Mugabe Central Hospital Chief Medical Officer Dr Christopher Pasi leaves helm of the health institution taking up a new role at the Health Service Commision following an appointment by the President Emmerson Mnangagwa. He was appointed Secretary to the HSC. “His Excellency the President has in terms of section 10(1)(a) of the Health Service Amendment Act also appointed Dr Christopher Pamhidza Pasi as Secretary to the Health Service Commission,” said the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Martin Rushwaya in a statement. Dr Pasi…

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Zimbabwe Kicks Off Women’s Month with Launch of Every Stage of Woman Campaign

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa The Minister of Women Affairs, Small and Medium Enterprises Department, Honorable Monica Mutsvangwa yesterday presided over the launch of Women’s Month which also coincided with the Every Stage of Woman Campaign, a programme that focuses on the reproductive stages of the woman from menstruation to menopause, from adolescents to menopause. The Every Stage of Woman” Campaign is a Population Services Zimbabwe (PSZ) program being supported by the Embassy of Sweden in commemoration of the 2024 International Women’s Day commemoration running under the theme; “Invest in Women: Accelerate…

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National Health Insurance ready by July

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora says the much-awaited and much-lobbied- for National Health Insurance (NHI) is expected to be rolled out in July this year. At a time where less than 10 percent of Zimbabweans have medical insurance, the Health Ministry have been mulling over this health insurance scheme for decades without ever materializing. In an interview, the Health Minister said the NHI is expected to be presented to Parliament anytime from now. I think quite a lot of work has been done and…

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Kaizen 5S Quality Management System, a critical component for Zim’s Universal health coverage

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The implementation of the Japanese Kaizen 5S quality management sysyem has the potential to help Zimbabwe attain Universal Health Coverage given it improves the hospital working environment as some health facilities reported a record 83 weeks without a maternal mortality case. This came out during the project for improvement of health services through 5S- Kaizen- TQM approach annual progress report meeting. Officiating the meeting which ends tomorrow, Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said Government’s commitment to provide top notch health services is their top…

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MCAZ raids Caledonia shops

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) on Wednesday raided and confiscated illegal medicines from six shops in Caledonia, close to Old Tafara. Forfeited were unregistered medicines, expired drugs, and even registered medicines being sold unlawfully in the Gazebo area of Caledonia, Mabvuku. In a statement, MCAZ Director General Mr Richard Rukwata said this raid was done in partnership with the Zimbabwe Republic Police Drug and Narcotics Unit. “Today, the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ), in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) Drugs and Narcotics…

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Health Workers’ Strike Not Happening Says Minister Mombeshora

Kuda Pembere

By Kudakwashe Pembere The Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Douglas Mombeshora says chances are slim that a strike within the public health service may go on tomorrow as announced by the Health Apex Council (HAC) stating it is, unpatriotic and ‘unZimbabwean’. Speaking to journalists on the sidelines a first annual progress report meeting on the project for quality assurance and patient safety, Dr Mombeshora said they had learned the strike was on today (Wednesday) after discussions with the HAC where there were reassurances that Government was committed to…

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Seven Zim districts free of cholera

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere With all the provinces in Zimbabwe having reported cholera cases, seven districts are free of the disease. According to the Minister of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Dr Jenfan Muswere in a post cabinet media briefing, Bulilima, Insiza, Mangwe, Tsholotsho, Lupane, Nkayi and Shurugwi are the districts that do not have cholera. The nation is advised that during the period 14 to 20 February 2024, 1 025 new suspected cholera cases were reported, reflecting a reduction from the 1 286 cases reported the previous week. Districts that…

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Zim train in minimally invasive surgery skills for chest cavity

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere A training workshop for doing applying minimally invasive surgery in the chest cavity  began Monday ending the following day at the University of Zimbabwe International Centre for Surgical Simulation (UZICSS) attracting African surgeons from Somalia, Libya, Uganda, and Botswana. Top surgeons in thoracic cavity keyhole surgery from Morocco, Spain and South Africa were the main tutors or facilitators at the workshop. Speaking with journalists, UZICSS director Professor Godfrey Muguti said this type of surgery is an evolution from the times when surgeons used to make large incisions…

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Zimbabwe Launches Women at the Center Project To Ease GBV Case Management and Referral Pathways

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa The Government of  Zimbabwe through the Ministry of Women Affairs Community, and Small and Medium Enterprise Development in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), have launched the Women at the Centre Project that focuses on providing increased support to survivors of Gender Based Violence (GBV) through quality case management. Japanese Pharmaceutical Company Takeda is supporting the project and its being implemented over four years.  Zimbabwe is one of five countries that are part of this project. The other countries are Indonesia, El Salvador, Azerbaijan and…

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