Tag: HIV

Prof Moyo Under Fire Over HIV Comments

Healthtimes

HealthTimes Correspondent Higher and Tertiary education minister Professor Jonathan Moyo is under fire from local medical practitioners following his recent Twitter post in which he insinuated that intake of ARVs and other life saving drugs could lead to vomiting and diarrhea. Moyo’s Twitter remarks comes as a response to the ongoing drama within ZANU PF where by Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is allegedly being roasted for saying he was poisoned during a Gwanda ZANU PF rally which resulted in him being airlifted to South Africa for urgent medical attention. In a statement, Zimbabwe…

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SAZ To Launch HIV and Wellness Standard

Healthtimes

By Michael Gwarisa THE Standards Association of Zimbabwe (SAZ) says it will soon be launching an HIV and Wellness Standard in a move to boost the quality of HIV and wellness policies within organizations. In an Interview with HealthTimes,  SAZ Director General, Dr Eve Gadzikwa said they had already launched nine standards on traditional medicines and called on companies to ensure they adopt the forthcoming HIV and Wellness standard so as to improve working conditions for their workforce. ““Firstly I wish to advise you that this standard is still undergoing development…

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NAC HIV/Cancer Golf Tournament Kicks Off On High Note

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By Michael Gwarisa THE National Aids Council fund raising HIV & Cancer Prevention Drive Golf tournament kicked today amidst calls by government for men to partner women in the fight against Cervical cancer. In an interview with Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development Deputy Minister Abigail Damasane on the sidelines of the tournament, she said it was crucial for women to also participate in sporting activities which traditionally used to be male dominated. “Even if we are to back to the bible, dating itself was always a men’s world. In the sphere of…

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500 000 Lives In Danger As ARV Crisis Persists In Zimbabwe

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By Michael Gwarisa  NOT less than half a million lives are at risk of developing HIV drug resistance and full blown AIDS or dying if the prevailing shortages of Anti-Retroviral (ARVs) drugs particularly the second line regiment (Abacavir) is not resolved.  Speaking at a Joint Press Conference in Capital, the  Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+), Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights  (ZLHR) and the Diocese of Mutare Community Care Programme (DOMCCP) have bemoaned the lukewarm pace  concern over the slow pace at which the ongoing shortages  being resolved.…

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#BREAKING: New antibody attacks 99% of HIV strains

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By James Gallagher  Health and science reporter, BBC News website Scientists have engineered an antibody that attacks 99% of HIV strains and can prevent infection in primates. It is built to attack three critical parts of the virus – making it harder for HIV to resist its effects. The work is a collaboration between the US National Institutes of Health and the pharmaceutical company Sanofi. The International Aids Society said it was an “exciting breakthrough”. Human trials will start in 2018 to see if it can prevent or treat infection.…

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Ignoring Key Populations Threaten 90 90 90 Targets

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By Michael Gwarisa  LEAVING key Populations (KPs) behind in HIV/AIDS interventions and programs poses a a threat to the ambitious target of reducing HIV prevalence, deaths and new infections  by the year 2020. In Zimbabwe, KPs mean gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers and their clients, transgender people and people who inject drugs as the four main key population groups, but it acknowledges that prisoners and people with Disability also are particularly vulnerable to HIV and frequently lack adequate access to services (ZNASP3 )…

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Engaging in Sex Early Exposing Girls To Cervical Cancer

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“It is also advisable for young girls not to engage in sex at an early ages as this has been seen to be another factor behind the rise in Cervical Cancer in Zimbabwe…” By Michael Gwarisa YOUNG girls who engage in sexual intercourse at an early age (9-18) are at a greater risk of developing cervical cancer in the long run, an Island Hospise official has said. Speaking in a program HIV Interventions on Star FM yesterday, Island Hospise Training Manager Franciscah Tsikai urged young girls to abstain from sex…

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WHO Moves To Curb 2nd Line ARV Stock-outs

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By Michael Gwarisa  THE World Health Organisation (WHO) is in the process of engaging Pharmaceutical and drug manufacturing companies to negotiate on the pricing of second line Anti Retro-viral drugs to assist Zimbabwe and other struggling third world countries to ensure they access the lifesaving drugs at affordable prices. The development come in the midst of reports that Zimbabwe is experiencing massive second line Abacavir ARV drug stock-outs, putting more than 30 000 lives at risk of developing HIV drug resistance owing to discontinued uptake of  ARVs.  Briefing Journalists in…

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#BREAKING: NAC Targets Informal Sector Over AIDS Levy

Healthtimes

By Michael Gwarisa THE National Aids Council (NAC) is engaging government and policy makers to consider taxing the informal sector in a bid to beef up the Aids Levy coffers which are reportedly dwindling. Briefing Journalists during a Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) media engagement meeting in the capital, NAC’s National Advocacy Coordinator Trust Govera said AIDS levy collections fell in 2016 and measures were currently underway to increase domestic financing for HIV related programs and taxing the informal sector was one of them. “Government is in the process…

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Allocate Foreign Currency Towards ARV Procurement-CWGH

Healthtimes

By Michael Gwarisa  THE Community Working Group on Heath (CWGH), has  called on government to prioritise allocation of foreign currency towards the procurement of Anti Retro Viral medicines ARVs amid revelations of massive ARV stockouts at public health centres and pharmacies. CWGH Executive director Itai Josh Rusike said it was disheartening that Zimbabwe which over the years made tremendous gains in reducing HIV/AIDS related deaths through multi-sectoral efforts, is now experiencing a serious shortage of Abacavir – a second line ARV drug to the extent that people taking that drug are…

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