Category: Tech-Health News

Zimbabwe Pilots Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Prompt Bilharzia Testing and Case Identification At Point of Care

Michael Gwarisa

Professor Qin Zhiqing, an Associate Professor at the China National Institute of Parasitic Diseases (NIPR) has been in Zimbabwe for the past two months and together with a team from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), a department in the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), they have been conducting a Schistosomiasis pilot study in Shamva District. By Michael Gwarisa As part of their study, they are also assessing the use of Rapid Diagnostic Testing (RDT) to detect and identify Schistosomiasis Cases in communities. At a laboratory site…

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UNFPA Zimbabwe Explores Use Of Drones To Reach Women and Girls In Inaccessible Areas With Services

Michael Gwarisa

The United Nations Population Fund in Zimbabwe (UNFPA-Zimbabwe), says it will soon be rolling out Drone Technology to deliver services to women and girls in hard-to-reach areas. By Michael Gwarisa The move is in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which recognize innovation as critical to accelerating progress towards global development aspirations as it ensures they deliver on their three transformative results to end preventable maternal death, end unmet need for family planning, and end violence gender-based violence (GBV) and all harmful practices, including female genital mutilation and child…

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SAT launches YouthWyz mobile app

Kuda Pembere

THE Sexual Reproductive Health Rights Africa Trust (SAT) on Friday launched a mobile application meant to provide adolescents with information on where and how to access sexual reproductive health services. By Kuda Pembere The application was established on the back of the high demand of SRHR issues. Prior the application development, there were physical YouthWyz hubs but for ease of access to some of the services, SAT with the help of various partners and Dure Technologies, an application developer creased it YouthWyz app. YouthWyz is a digital hub I know…

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Ministry of Health to deploy advanced AI Tool for TB detection

Michael Gwarisa

AT a time the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare has grown across the globe, the Ministry of Health and Child (MoHCC) is set to launch a Computer-Aided Detection Artificial Intelligence tool (CAD AI), to screen for Tuberculosis (TB). By Michael Gwarisa The move comes at a time Zimbabwe is making headway towards addressing the TB burden as evidenced by the country’s removal from the world’s top 30 list of countries heavily burdened by TB. Zimbabwe now has a double burden of TB/HIV and MDR-TB. In an interview with…

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Zimbabwe’s Health Sector Goes Green with Solar Powered Electronic Health Records

Michael Gwarisa

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), is rolling out “Impilo,” an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system, which is meant to improve efficiency in the health sector through enhancing data collection, management, patients’ care as well as improve communication between health practitioners and patients. By Michael Gwarisa According to the Ministry of Health, they intend to have fully deployed the system in the entire healthcare sector by December 2023. The roll-out of the Impilo is being supported by key specialized systems like the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), the…

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West End Clinic acquires new ophthalmic equipment

Healthtimes

West End Clinic has acquired an advanced diagnostic and surgical machine which will enhance the safety and efficiency of cataract removal procedures by surgeons at the institution. By Staff Reporter The clinic’s manager Pharoah Makarudze said the new CataRhex 3 Phaco machine will help surgeons carry out treatment procedures for cataract removals in a more efficient way that reduces costs and healing time for patients. We bought a new Phaco machine at a cost of more than US$32 000 as we step up efforts to upgrade our hospital equipment and…

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Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Health On Course To Fully Deploy Paperless System By December 2023

Michael Gwarisa

Impilo, an Electronic Health Records (EHR) system which is currently being rolled out in Zimbabwe’s health facilities, is set to improve efficiency in the health sector through enhancing data collection, management, patients’  care as well as improving communication between health practitioners and patients. By Michael Gwarisa Briefing Journalists in Kadoma during a Results Based Financing (RBF) model for healthcare media sensitization meeting, Dr Robert Gongora, the National EHR Coordinator in the Ministry of Health and Child Care said their priority as is to accelerate the rollout/coverage and usage of electronic…

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Solar Energy Gives Zimbabwe’s Expanded Programme on Immunization Continuity

Michael Gwarisa

It’s an early Wednesday morning and Sister Marian Fadzi, the District Nursing Officer and her team at Mahusekwa District Hospital in Marondera are already preparing for a hectic day ahead where they intend to vaccinate children against Measles under the ongoing national measles vaccination drive. In a few days’ time, they will also commence a supplementary Polio vaccination programme at the Hospital as well as across all other 24 other health facilities in Marondera district. By Michael Gwarisa Despite the ongoing power outages due to prolonged load shedding schedules which…

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Cell Biotech Brings Precision Medicine To Zimbabwe’s Doorstep

Healthtimes

Precision medicine, which is also frequently referred to as “personalised medicine,” is a rapidly expanding area of medicine that focuses on finding efficient ways to treat patients based on their genetic, environmental, and lifestyle characteristics. Precision medicine is therefore a place where science meets healthcare, thus ensuring quality care for every patient. While precision medicine continues to grow in the developed world, it has remained absent in the developing world, with Zimbabwe being no exception. Contrary to traditional medicine, which is still practiced in developing countries and some parts of…

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University of Mauritius Develops Breast Cancer Awareness App with Support from Oracle

Michael Gwarisa

Over 1,000 users benefit from cancer prevention service running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure   Oracle and the University of Mauritius(UoM) today announced the successful completion of a three-year skills development program that has trained over 1,000 UoM students in the latest cloud computing technologies. As part of the program the student entrepreneurs of Oracle Student Ambassador Club used Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and Oracle NoSQL Database technologies to successfully develop a mobile application for breast cancer awareness. This application and further innovation efforts of the student entrepreneurs will be supported…

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