Tag: MIDLANDS PROVINCE

Dust, Gold, and Infection: Midlands Province Grapples with Mining-Driven HIV Epidemic

Michael Gwarisa
A young artisanal miner operates a lever at a mine shaft in Gokwe, Zimbabwe, highlighting the risks faced by children working in unsafe mining environments.

By Michael Gwarisa in Midlands Province As one descends the winding Boterekwa curves in Shurugwi in the Midlands province, the scale of mining activity becomes impossible to ignore. The landscape has transformed dramatically since the turn of the millennium. In the distance, rocks are blasted from the earth, sending thick clouds of dust into the sky. Just past the curves, Musasa Shopping Centre is a hive of activity. Evidence of the night’s revelry litters the open space, with empty beer bottles and used condoms scattered near Chirasha Bar, one of…

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Donor Funding Cuts Deal Major Blow To Male Circumcision Programs In Midlands Province

Michael Gwarisa
Dr. Mary Muchekeza, Provincial Medical Director for Midlands, addressing journalists in Gweru on the impact of donor funding cuts on voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) programs.

By Michael Gwarisa in Gweru The Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) has warned of a decline in the coverage of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) in the Midlands province owing to major disruptions in donor funding earlier this year. For more than a decade, Zimbabwe’s VMMC program has relied heavily on external financing, particularly from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. However, following the freeze…

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CHWs boost trachoma prevention programme in Chiwundura

Healthtimes

Villagers in Chiwundura district in Midlands province have finally embraced a trachoma prevention programme after a massive awareness campaign by community health workers (CHWs) and local traditional leaders. By Caiphas Chimhete & Mandy Mathias The villagers had initially being suspicious of the government-driven programme following rumours and misinformation that trachoma prevention tablets caused serious side-effects. Trachoma is a preventable disease that affect the eyes, cause loss of vision and blindness and is most common in poor rural communities. Rumours were awash in the midlands district that the tablets caused blindness…

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Zimbabwe Red Cross Holds NCDs Awareness Schools Competition

Michael Gwarisa

THE Zimbabwe Red Cross Society has successfully hosted the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) Arts Festival with the aim of raising awareness and teaching children on the dangers of leading sedentary lifestyles and adopting dangerous habits that could lead to a high NCDs burden in the future. By Michael Gwarisa The competitions were in two phase with the provincial competitions having been held first followed by the national competitions for those who would have won the provincial competitions. There were five categories which saw pupils from various schools battling it out in…

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