Tag: HIV

Parliament Petitioned Over ARV Shortages

Michael Gwarisa

PEOPLE Living With HIV (PLHIV) have handed over a petition to the Parliament of Zimbabwe in a bid to push government to urgently allocate financial resources to arrest the prevailing drug shortage before the situation goes out of hand. By Michael Gwarisa The development comes at the back of indications that the National Aids Council (NAC) is sitting on a cash pile of RTGS$20 million which they are failing to convert to United States (US) dollars needed to procure drugs from source markets. In an interview on the side-lines of…

Read More

Lois Chingandu Joins Frontline AIDS

Michael Gwarisa

RENOWNED HIV and sexual reproductive health rights expert, Lois Chingandu has joined Frontline AIDS, a leading HIV and AIDS response organisation as its new Director of Evidence and Influence . By Michael Gwarisa Lois joins Frontline AIDS at a pivotal time for the organisation after serving at the helm of SAFAIDS Zimbabwe as Executive Director. The organisation, Frontline rebranded in February 2019 and is set to launch a new Global Plan of Action later this year and Lois together with her new team will play a central role in generating…

Read More

People Living With HIV To March Against ARV Stock outs

Michael Gwarisa

CIVIC Society Organisations (CSOs) together with people living with HIV will this Thursday, July 4, 2019, march and petition parliament over the obtaining shortage of Anteretroviral (ARVs) drugs and drug stock outs. The march is being organised by Zimbabwe Aids Network (ZAN), Zimbabwe Positive Youths (ZY+), Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+) and will see various other pressure groups aligned to the HIV cause joining in.

Read More

High HIV Incidence Among Female Youths

Healthtimes

THERE is need to have programs targeting young women aged between 19 and 34 years particularly those at educational tertiary institutions to lower HIV Incidence rates in Zimbabwe. By Kudakwashe Pembere This emerged during an International Aids Society Harare Scientific Symposium which brought HIV experts from across the SADC region. AIDS and TB Director Dr Owen Mgurungi bemoaned the high incidence of HIV among young adolescent females. “The incidence is below point nine percent but its not homogenous. There are areas where we have high incidence. There are areas where…

Read More

Study for a child-friendly HIV treatment begins in Uganda

Michael Gwarisa

THE first patients have been enrolled in a potentially ground-breaking trial in Uganda for a capsule of granules containing four HIV drugs that can be easily administered to young children. Known as the ‘4-in-1,’ this sweet-tasting ‘fixed-dose combination’ could constitute a quantum leap in care for kids living with HIV, replacing a generation of sub-optimal HIV treatments that are difficult to give to children, or no longer recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). The phase I/II study, called LOLIPOP, will provide clinical data on the 4-in-1 in infants and…

Read More

Depression: Silent Killer for Young Girls & Women Living With HIV

Michael Gwarisa

PUBERTY is one stage associated with anxiety, joy and stress for young girls transitioning from childhood to adulthood. The hormonal and reproductive changes which include the bulging bust, widening of hips, protruding hindquarters and menstrual flows all just come too fast within a short space of time. By Michael Gwarisa recently in Gweru However, for adolescents and young girls living with HIV, this phase could be traumatic and heart rending in the absence of proper counselling and psychosocial support. Phyliss Mavushe (24), a young person living with HIV and also…

Read More

‘Cyclone Idai Destroyed ARVs For Over 1 million People’

Healthtimes

ABOUT 1 , 1 million people living with HIV were left stranded without access to antiretroviral medication in the Cyclone Idai distressed countries, a top United Nations official said on Monday. By Kudakwashe Pembere Briefing the media, UN Assistant Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ursula Mueller said they were concerned about people in Malawi, Mozambique and Zimbabwe living with HIV who lost their medication. “The imminent loss of antiretroviral medication to some 1, 1 million people is particularly alarming,” she said. She also bemoaned the…

Read More

Climate Disasters Expose Pregnant Women To Unimaginable Risks

Michael Gwarisa

THE world is experiencing a shift in climatic conditions and with this shift a number of natural disasters are occurring, leaving millions exposed to various unhealthy conditions. By Michael Gwarisa Two months ago, Zimbabwe witnessed what has been termed the world natural disaster in Africa South of the Sahara by climate experts following the devastation and loss of lives that was experienced as a result of Tropical Cyclone Idai. Even though government and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) ramped up efforts to provide the affected victims with basic necessities ranging from food,…

Read More

Zim Commences DTG Drug Transition

Healthtimes

DEPUTY Director HIV/AIDS and STIs in the ministry of health and child care (MoHCC), Dr Tsitsi Apollo says the country has already commenced its transition process from Tenovir/Lamuvidene/Efavirens to Dolutegravir (DTG), a first line regimen of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) which has less side effected and a rapid viral suppression. By Michael Gwarisa The whole transition process will be completed come February 2020 and in the process, drugs such as Navirapine (NVP) will be phased out with indications on the ground confirming that healthcare providers have already been advised to limit…

Read More

Parent To Child Communication Bridges SRHR Gap At Grassroots

Healthtimes

ZIMBABWE has over the years been battling soaring cases of teenage pregnancies, early marriages, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and HIV infections in adolescents among a host of other sexual reproductive health related issues. By Michael Gwarisa recently In Zvimba According to the National Adolescent Fertility Study (NAFS) of 2016 conducted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC), adolescent pregnancies remain a major contributor to maternal and child mortality in Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, the adolescent fertility…

Read More