Category: Health News

MCAZ Inches Closer to WHO Maturity Level 4 Recognition

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) is on the cusp of attaining Maturity Level 4 under the World Health Organization’s Global Benchmarking Tool (GBT), with only a few final steps remaining. This was revealed by MCAZ Director General Mr. Richard Rukwata during the Authority’s 7th Annual General Meeting held in Harare on Friday. Among the accolades MCAZ has earned, Rukwata highlighted the GBT as a significant milestone. He described it as the first intercontinental benchmark that allows every agency to be measured by the same standard.…

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Global Fund Appeals for Support Ahead of 8th Replenishment, Calls for African Ownership of HIV Programs

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Durban The Global Fund last night took to the platform at the ongoing 4th CPHIA Conference in Durban, South Africa, to call for support towards the 8th Replenishment, aimed at strengthening HIV programs amid shrinking donor support. The Global Fund’s 8th Replenishment is a campaign launched in 2025 to raise 18 billion US dollars to fight HIV, TB, and malaria between 2027 and 2029. The 8th cycle aims to save 23 million lives, avert 400 million infections, reduce mortality by 64% compared to 2023, and strengthen…

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Cancer: The Grim Reaper Killing Zimbabwean Female Journalists

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa At just 28, in 2017, Daily News journalist Sharon Muguwu succumbed to leukemia. I remember meeting Sharon back in 2016. Despite her frail frame and tired eyes, she still spoke softly but with courage. “Ndanga ndichirwara Mike,” she said when I asked about her health. Not long after that conversation, heartbreaking news of her passing spread across the media fraternity, leaving us shattered. Even today, the pain lingers. Eight years after Sharon’s death, Zimbabwe’s media industry continues to lose some of its brightest talents to the same…

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Zimstat, UNICEF Begin Seventh Round of MICS Survey

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT), in partnership with UNICEF, has begun data collection for the seventh round of the Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS7). The MICS survey plays a vital role in gathering national data on a wide range of socio-economic indicators concerning children, women, and men. The last survey was conducted in 2019. “The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT), in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), is pleased to announce the commencement of the 2025 Zimbabwe Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Round 7…

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Study Finds Significant Rates of Infidelity Among Doctors and Nurses

Michael Gwarisa

By Staff Reporter  A new study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health has revealed that infidelity is not uncommon among medical professionals, with 21 percent of participating doctors and nurses admitting to having engaged in an unfaithful relationship. The study, titled “Incidence and Related Factors of Infidelity among Medical Doctors and Nurses,” was conducted by researchers Sara Guerrero, Gracia Castro-Luna, Rosa Zapata Boluda, Aida Freites, Rafael García, and Tesifón Parrón-Carreño. It sought to understand the prevalence of infidelity within the medical profession and the factors…

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Fruit Trees and Textbooks: A Community’s Dual Fight for Growth

Kuda Pembere

By Kudakwashe Pembere Under the blazing Hatcliffe sun on the outskirts of Harare, a resilient community keeps growing against all odds. Among its youngest members is Ruvimbo, a Grade 5 pupil whose dreams take root in both soil and study. For her, a brighter future begins with education. Each day, she walks to school — now closer to home after transferring from Hatcliffe 2 Primary. On this sunny Monday morning, she kneels beside a Rotary Club Msasa member to plant a tree. As they chat, she opens up about her…

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Oncologists Should Lead the Tobacco Harm Reduction Discourse

Healthtimes
Nicotine Isn’t the Enemy: World Expert Corrects a Century of Misconception

By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma A leading French oncologist has called on cancer specialists worldwide to take an active role in Tobacco Harm Reduction and help correct misconceptions about nicotine and its link to cancer. Speaking on the sidelines of the 2025 Technovation Summit in Dubai, Professor David Khayat, an oncologist at Pierre et Marie University in Paris, said oncologists have a duty to promote science-based communication around smoking and nicotine use. We as oncologists have to trust science, and science says nicotine does not cause cancer, so let’s stick to…

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Calls Mount to Ringfence Zimbabwe’s Sugar Tax

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere With Zimbabwe introducing several taxes over the years to mobilize resources for the health sector, calls are growing to ringfence these funds to ensure they are used for their intended purposes. The recently introduced Fast Food Tax, aimed at tackling the rising burden of non-communicable diseases, follows the Sugar Tax, which was earmarked for cancer treatment. However, economists, parliamentarians, and other stakeholders at a Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) meeting on health financing held Friday have expressed concern that the Sugar Tax proceeds are yet to…

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PMI Strengthens Measures to Curb Youth Access to Smoke-Free Products

Healthtimes

By Munyaradzi Blessing Doma Philip Morris International (PMI) says it is taking concrete steps to ensure its smoke-free products remain out of reach for minors, reaffirming its commitment to youth access prevention as global concerns around youth vaping grow. Speaking during the 2025 Technovation Summit in Dubai, Tomoko Iida, PMI’s Director of Scientific Engagement for South and Southeast Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Middle East, and Africa, said the company’s smoke-free portfolio, which includes heated tobacco, e-vapour, and oral smokeless products, is designed exclusively for adult smokers. Youth…

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Red Cross Restores Dignity to Persons with Disabilities in Binga Through Accessible Toilets

Michael Gwarisa
Construction workers completing an accessible toilet for Gogo Mleya, a person with disabilities, in Saba village, Binga.

By Michael Gwarisa in Binga For more than a decade, Mrs. Esteri Simwaka from Siansundu Village in Binga has been helping her 13-year-old daughter, Bwime, relieve herself in the backyard or nearby fields. “It was easier when she was younger,” said a teary Mrs. Simwaka. “But now she’s grown and much heavier. I can’t lift her anymore. I place her in a bathing dish, drag her across uneven ground to the bush, lift her up so she can relieve herself, clean her, and then drag her back home. The sun…

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