ZAN Spells Out Community Centered Vision For 2020

Kudakwashe Pembere

THE country has made significant strides in its HIV/AIDS response with government working hand in glove with civil society organisations (CS)s)working within and with communities. The tagline for the 2020 HIV response worldwide is ‘Communities Make The Difference’ as nations aim to reach the 90-90-90 targets of having 90 percent tested, 90 percent of those tested getting on treatment and the 90 percent on treatment having a suppressed viral load. Derailing efforts made in reducing the HIV/AIDS burden in Zimbabwe are psychological issues such as stigma, denial and defaulting as…

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Here Is Why Zimbabwe Should Be On High Alert For CoronaVirus

Michael Gwarisa

IN December 2019, an outbreak of a rare flue like virus  was reported in China and has since infected hundreds since it was diagnosed in Wuhan, China. By Michael Gwarisa Chinese health expert and scientist  who first decoded the virus  believes the virus which could be a cousin to the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus which killed hundreds of people a few year back could have started in animals and spread to humans. On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) was informed of a cluster of cases…

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#BREAKING: Junior Doctors Finally Accept Masiyiwa’s Offer

Michael Gwarisa

THE Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors Association (ZHDA) has finally accepted the Higherlife Foundation mentorship offer, a move that is likely to bring some sanity to the health sector. By Michael Gwarisa In November last year at the height of the doctors strike as a result of incapacitation, the Foundation offered a ZWL100 Million, Training Fellowship for Junior and Senior Resident Medical Officers employed at Public Healthcare institutions of Zimbabwe. However most members from the ZHDA has spurned the offer saying government should come up with long lasting solution to their crisis.…

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Health Seeking Behavior Declines As Poverty Bites Zimbabweans

Kudakwashe Pembere

HEALTH seeking behaviour in the country has been deteriorating between 2017 and 2019 owing to high poverty levels coupled with unavailability of some health services, a 2019 Mini Poverty, Income, Consumption and Expenditure Survey (PICES) report shows. By Kudakwashe Pembere Presenting the latest findings at the launch of the 2017 PICES and 2019 Mini PICES, World Bank Senior Economist Rob Swinkels said the survey was a follow upon the 2017 PICS. In 2017, the proportion of people who got sick in the past 30days for rural populace was 12percent increasing…

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#BREAKING: Doctors To Expand Emergency Services In Public Hospitals

Michael Gwarisa

SENIOR doctors have agreed to expand the emergency services mode in hospitals in a bid to ease the suffering masses. By Michael Gwarisa In a statement, the Senior Doctors Association of Zimbabwe (SHDA) said the resolution was agreed on following a an exercise they carried out  early this year where they went through the hospitals together with hospital managers; to inspect and physically see the restocking that had been done as well as highlighting on the state of the hospital equipment in the central hospitals around the country. The exercise…

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How Animal Medications Are Fueling Drug Resistance In Humans

Kudakwashe Pembere

ITS 10:00 in the morning and a Harare man walks into one of the Agroshops licensed as Veterinary Medicine General Dealers in the central business district enquiring of a possible remedial solution for his dying chickens. By  Kudakwashe Pembere Panting heavily and with a sad look, he tells the cashier the symptoms. Even though the attendant advises that the man takes the dead chickens for a post mortem, he proceeds to dispense some Oxytetetracycline which he says could cure the birth flue and get rid of the bacterial infection. He…

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Smoking greatly increases risk of complications after surgery

Michael Gwarisa

TOBACCO smokers are at significantly higher risk than non-smokers for post-surgical complications including impaired heart and lung functions, infections and delayed or impaired wound healing. HealthTimes Reporter But new evidence reveals that smokers who quit approximately 4 weeks or more before surgery have a lower risk of complication and better results 6 months afterwards. Patients who quit smoking tobacco are less likely to experience complications with anesthesia when compared to regular smokers. A new joint study by the World Health Organization (WHO), the University of Newcastle, Australia and the World…

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Zim To Host 6th Africa SDG Conference

Kudakwashe Pembere

ZIMBABWE will next month host the sixth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development. The country committed to make progress in 2015 towards achieving the sustainable development goals. By Kudakwashe Pembere The event will be running under the theme, “2020-2030, A Decade To A Transformed And Prosperous Africa Through The 2030 Agenda.” Addressing journalists, Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Minister Dr Sekesai Nzenza said this forum is an inter-governmental and multisectoral platform convened annually by the economic commission for Africa in collaboration with the African union commission.…

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Women Now Using Tobacco To Shrink Their Private Parts

Michael Gwarisa

WOMEN are now applying tobacco powder and other tobacco related products on their private parts in the belief that it shrinks their genitals, increase sexual pleasure and raises the odds of getting pregnant. By Michael Gwarisa The practice of applying tobacco to the lady parts is now popular in most West African countries and has also spread to other African countries including Zimbabwe. Tobacco or “miracle recipe” as it is now called in West African countries “increases sexual pleasure tenfold” or “sends a man into the seventh heaven” and this…

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Desperate Zimbos Turn To Crowd Funding For Healthcare Financing

Michael Gwarisa

IN a country where medical aid coverage is less than 10 percent, ordinary Zimbabweans who can’t afford medical aid cover and health insurance have found solace in crowd funding initiatives for critical surgeries and treatment for complicated ailments. By Michael Gwarisa According to the Association of Healthcare Funders Zimbabwe (AHFoZ), medical aid coverage has dropped from a high of 10 percent in 2018 to the current  9 percent, making it untenable for majority of Zimbabweans whose life savings and hard earned cash has turned into manure since August 2018 at…

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