Op Ed |

#TalkingCOVIDWithDr Grant: Covid-19 And Well-Being

January 31, 2021 Healthtimes

THE month of January has been particularly challenging for Zimbabwe as far as the COVID-19 pandemic is concerned. We reported the highest number of cases as well as the highest number of fatalities since March 2020 when the pandemic hit the country. News of high-profile people including cabinet ministers, church bishops, medical professional and many other succumbing to the disease sent waves of fear and desperation across the population. By Dr Grant Murewanhema Zimbabwe is a peculiar country where access to quality medical care is a luxury to many. We…

Zimbabwe COVID-19 Deaths Breach 1000 Mark

January 24, 2021 Healthtimes

20 March 2020 is when we confirmed the first case of SARS-CoV-2 in Zimbabwe, and a few days later we had lost a prominent young man (may his soul continue to rest in peace). The initial trajectory was slow, and by October we thought the local outbreak was under control. By Dr Grant Murewanhema Sadly our confirmed cases started to rise again, with a significant rise in the first 2 weeks of January, possibly attributable to an influx of returnees from abroad and unrestricted human movements during the festive period.…

Don’t Over boil Zumbani, Never Use Remedies As A Substitute For Food

January 17, 2021 Healthtimes

Go Green! Our potential way out THIS Covid-19 pandemic has brought special attention to herbal remedies or functional foods, naturally regarded for both their nutritional and health benefits. Most of us commonly know these as herbs or complementary and alternative medicines. Everyone is busy looking for something traditional to use, with an aim to boost our immunity and give the body a chance to fight against the virus. While Prof Dexter Tagwireyi has already cautioned us to be careful when we use the plant Lippia javanica (fever bush, Zumbani or…

COVID-19 And The Festive Season: Time To Guard Against Complacency

December 13, 2020December 13, 2020 Healthtimes

2020 has been a particularly strange year; one that many would quickly want to rub out of their memories. Many lost their loved ones from COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 related causes; many were separated from their loved ones for months due to international travel restrictions and national lockdowns, and there are many who lost their jobs as economic recessions took their toll on businesses. Schools and colleges have been closed for months, with some now resorting to virtual teaching; some even lost their opportunity for graduations after many years of sweating…

Time For Citizens To Demand Accountability To Ensure Attainment of Universal Health Coverage

December 12, 2020 Healthtimes

THE 12 of December is the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) Day which is celebrated worldwide. Combined with the closing of another year, this is a time to take stock of how far we have gone in reaching the UHC goals in Zimbabwe. By Edinah Masiyiwa According to the World Health Organisation UHC means that everyone who requires health care should get it and that people should afford the health care. This year’s UCH theme is “Health For All: Protect everyone.” We have a long way to go until we reach…

Time To Rethink Our Behaviour And Make A Few Sacrifices To Break The COVID-19 Transmission Chain In Zim

December 4, 2020December 4, 2020 Healthtimes

FATIGUE leading to complacency in epidemics and pandemics is well described. Humans are social beings and created with an intrinsic desire to mingle, interact and work. However, certain times really call for an audit of our actions and behaviour. By Dr Grant Murewanhema Global statistics indicate that SARS-CoV-2 is now spreading like veldfire in some continents. Over 4 million people were confirmed to be SARS-CoV-2 positive in the week ending 29 November 2020, and in the same week over 69 000 fatalities were reported. It is extremely naive to think…

Communities Essential To Pandemic Responses

November 27, 2020 Healthtimes

A community-led response will not only get our HIV response back on track but also help Africa defeat COVID-19. When COVID-19 first hit Africa’s shores, there were real concerns that an additional 500 000[1] people could die from AIDS-related causes, including Tuberculosis, in sub-Saharan Africa in 2020–2021. Innovative measures from the continent, community responses and adherence to World Health Organization guidelines to maintain essential services amid the pandemic, among others, have mitigated this impact. But HIV services have been disrupted. And there are indications that COVID-related restrictions are having a…

OPINION PIECE: What will it take for South Africa to prevent TB

November 20, 2020 Healthtimes

SOUTH Africa has good TB policies, an impressive achievement that comes through in Step Up for TB 2020, a report released this week by Stop TB Partnership and Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which assesses TB policy in 37 high TB-burden countries. By Ivy Apolisi and Dr Liesbet Ohle For lives to be saved, though, policy must be implemented, and when it comes to implementation of TB policy in South Africa there is much that still needs to happen in the area of TB implementation, which is a major leg of…

Why so many people still die from Aids-related illnesses despite more people being on treatment

November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 Healthtimes

Twenty years ago antiretroviral medicines for HIV were a rare luxury in South Africa. Exorbitant costs and president Thabo Mbeki’s government fierce government opposition against providing antiretroviral treatment (ART) kept it out of the public sector. Those were terrible days. Many lives were lost. By Dr Gilles Van Cutsem Today, one of the main challenges in the fight against Aids is the lack of availability of diagnostics and drugs that can help save lives of people suffering from advanced HIV; who are very vulnerable to deadly opportunistic infections such as…

Debunking The COVID-19 preventive Misconception As Zimbabwe And Africa Face A Resurgence Of Cases

November 15, 2020November 15, 2020 Healthtimes

BY some stroke of luck, or as yet unexplained factor(s), Zimbabwe, and indeed most of Sub-Saharan Africa, have been spared from the full wrath of SARS-CoV-2, the causative coronavirus for COVID-19. For a virus that decimated populations in developed countries with advanced healthcare, the worst was expected for Africa. By Dr Grant Murewanhema Projections were that Africa was going to be grossly overwhelmed with cases; formal hospitals would be filled to capacity, including floors and passages, and there would be a need for makeshift hospitals. For a virus whose spread…