Tag: harare

Hand Foot and Mouth Disease Is Not a Zoonotic Disease

Michael Gwarisa

Health authorities in Harare have confirmed a sharp rise in cases of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) since October 2025, emphasizing that the illness is not a zoonotic disease, meaning it cannot be transmitted from animals to humans. The disease apparently is different from what we find in cattle, the foot and mouth disease in cattle. So this is a different kind of infection that we see in humans only,” said Dr. Michael Vere, Deputy Director of the City Health Department, Harare, told HealthTimes in an interview. This clarifies…

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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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Zimbabwe and UNFPA Begin Consultations for 9th Country Programme (2027–2031)

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa The Government of Zimbabwe and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have commenced consultations to develop the 9th Country Programme of Cooperation, which will run from 2027 to 2031. The two-day Stakeholder Engagement Workshop, taking place in Harare from 6 to 7 October 2025, brings together senior government officials, civil society, academia, youth representatives, and development partners to collectively shape the country’s future priorities for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), gender equality, and population dynamics. According to the concept note, the workshop seeks to “collectively…

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Zimbabwe Faces Severe Shortage of Forensic Pathologists

Michael Gwarisa
Minister of Health Dr. Douglas Mombeshora shares a light moment with Dr. Ron Mhizha of the Eye Institute and Chrispen Dzingirai of Old Mutual Zimbabwe during the launch of free cataract eye clinics.

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is grappling with a critical shortage of forensic pathologists, a crisis that has forced families to transport bodies across provinces for post-mortem examinations and delayed justice in criminal cases. Health and Child Care Minister Dr. Douglas Mombeshora told Parliament this week that until recently, the country had only one qualified forensic pathologist, making it nearly impossible to conduct timely examinations across the nation. Forensic post-mortems require specialised expertise beyond the training of general pathologists. Unfortunately, we only had one forensic pathologist in the country. This created…

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Women Frustrated by Delays in Identifying Rapist of Grade 7 Pupil at Rank

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa  Women’s organisations have expressed frustration over the failure to identify and bring to justice the tout reportedly responsible for raping a minor in a parked commuter omnibus at the Rezende bus rank. To voice their concerns, members of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) converged on Friday at a Sexual Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) Outreach Activity at the Ruzende Parkade Rank. The event, attended by women of all ages, was aimed at showing solidarity with the affected child and other women and girls who have suffered abuse at…

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Harare water crisis technical committee given another 100 days

Kuda Pembere

By Kudakwashe Pembere As Harare’s water challenges appear to be a thorn in the flesh for both the local authority and central government, a technical committee appointed to come up with solutions to mitigate this crisis has been afforded another 100 days to round up their task. This on Wednesday was said by the Minister of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Dr Anxious Masuka during a progress report presentation of the committee’s first 100 days. He said Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa in October last year tasked a committee…

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Cholera Spreads like Veld Fire in Zimbabwe’s Rural Communities

Michael Gwarisa

WHILE previous Cholera outbreaks in Zimbabwe were recorded in urban areas where there is poor water and sanitation services, the obtaining Cholera outbreak seem to be spreading fast in rural communities. By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe reported its first Cholera case in February this year in Chegutu before the outbreak spread to the country’s 10 provinces. The outbreak at some point subsided, only to resurface in Buhera, Manicaland province, where majority of those dying and contracting the diseases are white garment sect members according to government. As of October, 20 2023,…

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ED declares Harare a State of Disaster

Kuda Pembere

ZIMBABWE’S President Emmerson Mnangagwa has declared the uncleanliness of the country’s capital Harare, a state of disaster. By Kuda Pembere This was done in terms of section 27(1) of the Civil Protection Act [Chapter 10:06]. Through the Statutory Instrument 140 of 2023, Government expressed concern over the state of environment in Harare Metropolitan Province. Wheres Government has noted with great concern the deplorable state of cleanliness of the Harare Metropolitan Province, characterised among other things by litter and waste dumps accumulating in business and residential areas of the Province, open…

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Zimbabwe Government cracks head over untraceable Cholera origins

Michael Gwarisa

THE cholera outbreak in Zimbabwe has no epidemiological link to any country in the region or any place that has recorded cholera cases, meaning the local environment could be heavily contaminated and harbouring volumes of Cholera pathogens, a top health official has warned. By Michael Gwarisa This according to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), poses an even bigger challenge as it was now difficult to locate the actual source of Cholera and control its spread on time. The First Cholera case was reported and recorded on February…

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Harare Tells Residents To Disinfect Both Borehole And Tape Water, As Cholera Closes In On Big Cities, Eight Provinces Record Deadly Diarrhoeal disease

Michael Gwarisa

WHAT started as a single suspected Cholera case in Chegutu a month ago, could soon become a full blown epidemic in Zimbabwe, amidst indications that only two out of the 10 administrative provinces in the country are yet to record confirmed cases of Cholera. By Michael Gwarisa According to the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), eight provinces so have recorded cases of Cholera since the beginning of 2023, with cases in the eight provinces having no epidemiological link to each other. However, only Harare and Bulawayo have no…

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