Zim ARV Shortage Could Trigger Massive Drug Resistance

By Michael Gwarisa  ZIMBABWE today (21/08/2017) woke up to devastating news that the country’s public health and pharmaceutical institutions have been hit by massive Anti Retro Viral (ARV) drug shortages. According to an article in the Herald, HIV positive people on second line Abacavir ARV drugs are the most affected and they are being given a week’s supply of the drug instead of the traditional three moths supply due to stock outs. It is believed that the huge stock outs and shortages in drug supplies are being exacerbated by the…

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MSF nurse wins HIV-TB prize for life-saving TB test research

Staff Reporter  Zimbabwean MSF nurse and researcher Chenai Mathabire has won an HIV/TB Research Prize at this year’s International Aids Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS2017). Through a study conducted in Malawi and Mozambique, Chenai has provided strong evidence that an easy-to-use point-of-care TB LAM test, which quickly diagnoses tuberculosis (TB) in severely ill HIV patients, is feasible to use in real-life clinics with high numbers of HIV-TB patients. TB is the biggest killer of people living with advanced HIV, with over 400,000 patients dying each year from the disease.…

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WhenTo Tell My Boy/Girlfriend I am HIV+…Plight of HIV+ Adolescents

By Michael Gwarisa  AT a certain stage in life, the desire to be loved or love someone grips us  all and the feeling to express one’s love through physical means overrides normal reasoning. Its more like ecstasy, you cant explain it! However, for young adolescents living with HIV, expressing themselves in love relationships is a bit of a challenge as they have to juggle between telling their loved ones their true HIV status or withhold the truth until a certain time. Just like any normal  children, HIV positive adolescents also…

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Prophets Fueling HIV Drug Resistance

…As Zimbabwe Faces Worst Health Time Bomb…ART could Cost $6.5 billion in 2030 due HIV Drug Resistance!!!   By Michael Gwarisa LOCAL prophets who claim to have healing powers over AIDS should desist from doing so, as their claims have seen a number of HIV positive individuals on Anti Retro-viral Treatment (ART) stopping their  medication , hence fueling HIV drug resistance, a top health expert has said. The call comes hot on the heels of a World Health Organisation (WHO) warning over increased cases of an  HIV Drug Resistant  virus…

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Rimuka TB/HIV Care Centre commissioned

By Staff Reporter MINISTRY of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) has commissioned the Rimuka Integrated TB/HIV Care Centre that was renovated at a cost of US$30 000. The integrated health care centre which is owned by the Kadoma City Council handles approximately 6000 people every month. In a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Minister Aldrin Masiiwa last Friday, Minister of Health and Child Care Dr David Parirenyatwa applauded the city council for the noble initiative. “I am told that this health Care centre were once Council offices but…

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MSF Takes Sexual Reproductive Health To Schools…As More Students Test HIV positive

By Michael Gwarisa INTERNATIONAL medical humanitarian organization Doctors without Borders (MSF), has embarked on a widespread Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) drive in schools starting with South Africa in an effort to reduce increased cases of HIV/AIDS and unwanted pregnancies in amongst students. In a statement, MSF South Africa urged the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Education and School Governing Bodies (SGBs) in South Africa to get rid of traditional barriers to healthcare and sexual health education so as to promote uptake of HIV prevention measures as well…

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MSF, SafAids partner to fight drug abuse and HIV in Adolescents

By Michael Gwarisa  MEDECINS Sans Frontieres (MSF) has partnered SafAids in the fight against drug abuse and risky sexual behavior  amongst adolescents as the country strives to manage the AIDS pandemic whose prevalence in young people has been on the increase. In an interview with HealthTimes on the sidelines of the “Young4Real, Make the Right Choices campaign” in Mbare today MSF Health Promotions Officer,  Brian Hove said statistics of HIV prevalence among adolescents have been worrisome hence the need to partner SafAids on the drive. “The objectives of this campaign…

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More funding needed for HIV prevention- NAC

By Michael Gwarisa FUNDING towards HIV prevention programs is insignificant as more resources are being channeled towards HIV treatment, a top National Aids Council (NAC) official has said. In an interview with HealthTimes news, NAC director operations Raymond Yekeye said funding HIV prevention was currently on the low and called on stakeholders to consider scaling up financing of prevention initiatives. “Currently, the country has limited funding for HIV prevention as the majority of the resources are being channeled towards treatment in order to ensure we keep those already on ART…

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