Category: NON COMMUNICABLE DISEASES

Road Safety Audits Launch Meeting Highlights Sustainable Mobility Initiatives

Michael Gwarisa

By Staff Reporter A pivotal meeting to launch a Road Safety Audits Training initiative was held on March 27, 2025, at Moto Republik in Harare, Zimbabwe. The initiative aims to enhance road safety and promote sustainable mobility across the country. The event was funded by the FIA Foundation through the FIA Safe & Sustainable Mobility Grant Program, awarded to the Automobile Association of Zimbabwe (AAZ). It brought together key stakeholders, including the Ministry of Transport & Infrastructure Development, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, and experts from organizations such as…

Read More

Nigeria Leads Africa in Skin Bleaching, with 77% of Users Engaging in the Practice

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa  Nigeria has the highest prevalence of skin bleaching in Africa, with 77% of its population using skin-lightening products, a new report has revealed. The November 2023 Regional Fact Sheet on Skin Bleaching in Africa, compiled by the African Health Observatory (AHO) under the World Health Organization (WHO), warns that the widespread practice poses severe health risks and remains a major public health concern. Despite global efforts to regulate and ban harmful skin-bleaching products, millions of Nigerians continue to use them, driven by social, cultural, and economic pressures.…

Read More

#BREAKING: Braids Worn By Black Women Contain Cancer Causing Toxins

Michael Gwarisa

By Staff Reporter  The NBC news has reported that Ingredients that can cause cancer were found in 10 synthetic hair products used in braids, extensions and other hairstyles popular with Black women, including artificial hair from popular brands such as Magic Fingers, Sensationnel and Shake-N-Go, according to a Consumer Reports study published Thursday. Lead, which can cause serious health and developmental problems, was also found in nine of the 10 packs of synthetic hair surveyed, including one package of braiding hair that exceeded the maximum allowed dose of lead by…

Read More

Minister Mutsvangwa Rallies Women to Regularly Screen for Lifestyle Diseases

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Minister, Senator Monica Mutsvangwa, has applauded PSMAS Medical Aid Society for championing a week-long wellness outreach program, where over 200 members have been screened for various lifestyle diseases. The program kicked off on Tuesday, February 24, 2025, and will end on Friday, February 28, 2025. The outreach is being conducted through Premier Lifestyle, a PSMAS wellness program. Speaking on the sidelines of the screening outreach program at the PSMAS Headquarters in Harare, where she also underwent screening for several…

Read More

Delta Corporation Fund Masvingo Province Prisons, Breast, Cervical & Prostate Cancer Education And Screening

Michael Gwarisa

Staff Reporter  This year Delta Corporation provided USD10,000 through the Cancer Association of Zimbabwe for the Masvingo Province prisons, breast, cervical and prostate cancer education and screening. Cancer is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with delayed diagnosis often resulting in poor health outcomes. Incarcerated individuals face unique challenges in accessing timely and equitable health care services, including cancer screening. To address the disparity the CAZ offered in partnership with Delta Corporation breast, cervix and prostate cancer education and screening services to the inmates and prisoners at the…

Read More

The investment case for diabetes care for rural Zimbabwean women

Healthtimes

By Dr Nyasha Manyeruke The Zimbabwean healthcare system is currently battling a strategic funding gap towards the rising prevalence of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes (World Health Organisation, 2020). Any increase in national budgetary allocation towards addressing this growing public health threat, must take into consideration the existent intersectional endemicity of communicable diseases, El-nino drought, current economic contraction and historic marginalisation of women (UN Women, 2022). In this article, I discuss the evidence supporting the call to increase investment towards a diabetes primary health intervention focused on reproductive age women…

Read More

Bright Journey Eye Camp Aims to Restore Sight for 600 Zimbabweans with Free Cataract Surgeries

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere At least 300 patients have been selected for cataract surgery during an ongoing screening at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals, where a team of Chinese and local doctors are conducting a free Eye Camp under the Bright Journey program. In its third installment, the Bright Journey Eye Camp aims to perform surgeries on 600 patients. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Dr. Boniface Macheka, the head of ophthalmology at Sekugu Kaguvi Eye Hospital, encouraged more people to come for screening. He mentioned that the screening, which began this Monday,…

Read More

Zim launches Pediatric Cancer Treatment Guidelines

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe launched its Childhood Cancer Treatment Guidelines on Friday, strengthening the country’s efforts to combat childhood cancers through early diagnosis and improved treatment. The launch, which coincided with International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD) commemorations at Kidzcan’s Rainbow Village, comes at a time when children with cancer in Zimbabwe have only a 20 percent survival rate—well below the World Health Organization (WHO) 2030 target of 60 percent. Officiating at the event, Mr. Lee Nkala, Acting Director for the Non-Communicable Diseases Department, spoke on behalf of the Health and…

Read More

Zimbabwe to Begin Drug Testing for Public Transport and Mshikashika Drivers

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe has received drug testing equipment worth US$60,000 from the Abused Substances and Diagnostics Management (ASDM) project in an effort to curb drug- and alcohol-induced road traffic accidents. The equipment will be deployed nationwide to screen public transport drivers for intoxication. Zimbabwe has one of the highest road traffic accident rates in Sub-Saharan Africa. Data from the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe shows that between January and May 2024, the country recorded 21,183 crashes and 860 fatalities—an average of 141 accidents and nearly six deaths per day.…

Read More

Zimbabwe Faces Rising Breast Cancer Burden-WHO Report

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa  Breast cancer remains a significant public health challenge across Africa, with Zimbabwe ranking among the countries with notable incidence rates. According to the latest data from a World Health Organization (WHO) Assessment of breast cancer control capacities in the WHO African Region in 2022, Zimbabwe has an age-standardized breast cancer incidence rate of 35.34 per 100,000 population, placing it among the top 15 countries in the WHO African Region with the highest burden of the disease. The WHO report highlights stark variations in breast cancer incidence across…

Read More