Tag: HIV

Soldiers are HIV Key Populations says Gvt

Michael Gwarisa

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) Director Public Health, Group Captain, Dr Munyaradzi Dobbie says Soldiers and other Uniformed Forces are at high risk of getting HIV due to the nature of their job which requires them to move from one place to another at any given time. By Michael Gwarisa Dr Dobbie made this call during a Science Day that was hosted by the Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) in Harare this week. According to Dr Dobbie, Key populations were not a homogenous group thus there was need…

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Regional Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Symposium Kicks-off In Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

OVER 20 African countries are gathered in the resort town of Victoria Falls to deliberate on issues around access to Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for young people with the aim of finding a lasting solution to teenage pregnancies, gender-based violence, and HIV infections in East and Southern Africa. By Michael Gwarisa in Victoria Falls The three day regional symposium which will run up to Thursday, October 13, 2022  has been organized by the  UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO under the banner of the Joint UN Regional 2gether 4…

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Over 6,000 Children and Young People Virally Suppressed through Zvandiri’s Game-changer Project

Michael Gwarisa

THE Game-Changer program that was being implemented by Zvandiri, through a five year US$20 Million grant support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through USAID and the Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) has resulted in the consistent uptake of Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) has attained 94% Viral Load (VL) suppression. By Michael Gwarisa Among some of the key achievements of the Fame Changer project include a Viral Load (VL) Coverage of 74% (6800/9191)  and cumulatively, Zvandiri supported 412 health facilities on the Game Changer grant with over…

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New UNFPA Regional Director Tours Tariro Clinic and Youth Centre in Hopely

Michael Gwarisa

RECENTLY appointed United Nations Population Fund East and Southern Africa (UNFPA-ESA) Regional Director, Ms Lydia Zigomo Nyatsanza who is in the country on a mission visit, has applauded Tariro Clinic and Youth Centre for coming through to offer a range of healthcare services as well as life-skills training to vulnerable groups in Hopley. By Michael Gwarisa Tariro Clinic and Youth Centre  was born out of a 2017 partnership between the UNFPA, ILO, Lafarge Holchim Cement and the City of Harare which aims to improve sexual reproductive health (SRHR) outcomes of…

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Zim’s Targeted TB Screening Model Detects Over 7,000 New TB Cases

Michael Gwarisa

A total 7,317 new Tuberculosis (TB) cases were detected in hard to reach population groups since the year 2019 through the Kunda-Nqob’iTB (KN-TB) project, a community centred TB research and case detection model being implemented in Zimbabwe. By Michael Gwarisa The KN-TB program is a five year United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Tuberculosis Local Organization Network (TB-LON) funded project running from 2019 to 2024. The project is supporting the national TB-HIV response in Zimbabwe in eight high burden districts across three provinces. The eight target districts are Gweru,…

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What’s next for Zimbabwe’s collapsing health system?

Healthtimes

Health systems are, at their core, meant to promote, restore or maintain health. Their objective is to improve the length and quality of citizens’ life from the cradle to the grave. Health is therefore a fundamental human right. This was very clear to the different healthcare delivery administrators and practitioners in Zimbabwe for the last 42 years. But something happened along the way and Zimbabwe is now at the bottom of the pile. By Norman Nyazema During my tenure, from 1998 to 2002, as the director of the Institute of…

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Increase in people who inject drugs threatens Zim’s HIV Gains…UNAIDS calls for effective harm reduction programs

Michael Gwarisa

GOVERNMENT was warned that the obtaining spike in illicit drug and substance abuse incidences could trigger a new wave of new HIV infections as drug users were devising new risky means of administering drugs such as injecting drugs which at times involves the sharing of unsterilized needles and sharp objects. By Michael Gwarisa While Zimbabwe has made significant strides towards ending the AIDS epidemic, new data indicates that there has been a surge in new HIV infections especially amongst young girls and women while quite a sizable number could be…

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Don’t Let The HIV Story Die, Gvt Tells Journalists

Michael Gwarisa

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) says even though Zimbabwe is moving closer to epidemic control, more still needs to be done in terms of amplifying the message of HIV prevention, treatment and control. By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is one of the countries most affected by HIV and the pandemic has had a reversal effect on the socio-economic progress that our country achieved over the years. Officiating at the National AIDS Council Editors and Station Managers Workshop in Mazowe on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Child…

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Parliament Wants Presidential Amnesty For All Wilful Transmission Of HIV Prisoners

Michael Gwarisa

THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health chairperson, Dr Ruth Labode says they have already lobbied President Emerson Mnangwa through the Speaker of Parliament seeking amnesty for everyone who was imprisoned on the grounds of wilful transmission of HIV. By Michael Gwarisa in Mazowe The development follows Parliament of Zimbabwe’s recent repealing of section 79 of the Criminal Law Code, which criminalized wilful HIV transmission. According to the National Aids Council (NAC), Zimbabwe currently has the highest rate of HIV criminalization prosecutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and the sixth highest in the…

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Murambinda Sex Workers Inject each other’s Intoxicated Blood To Get High

Michael Gwarisa

FLASHBLOOD, a new trend of drug of and substance abuse has reportedly emerged among Murambinda based sex workers where desperate drug users deliberately inject themselves with another addict’s blood in an effort to share the intoxication. By Michael Gwarisa recently in Murambinda Flashblood is a syringe full of blood passed from someone who has just injected heroin to someone else who injects it in lieu of heroin. In Buhera District, novice and young sex workers have reportedly been practicing flashblood or bluetoothing as it is known in other parts of…

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