By Kuda Pembere “Children Under 18 should be allowed to abort! Simple…!” Human rights lawyer Tinashe Mundawarara's blunt Facebook statement has reopened a difficult question in Zimbabwe: what should happen when a child becomes pregnant? Mundawarara followed his statement with another question: “Who wants their 12 or 13 year old

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe is moving to establish a national benchmark for workplace wellness, with the Zimbabwe Business Council on Wellness (ZBCW) and Ganadora International set to launch a study aimed at filling a longstanding gap in data on workplace mental health, health challenges and their impact on productivity. Speaking

By Michael Gwarisa  The United States has formally signalled a new direction in its relationship with Zimbabwe, shifting the emphasis from decades of health and humanitarian assistance towards trade, investment and broader economic cooperation following the collapse of a proposed bilateral health agreement.  US Ambassador to Zimbabwe Pamela Tremont made

By Michael Gwarisa  Zimbabwe’s estimated annual deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) more than doubled over three decades, rising from about 21,000 in 1990 to 42,000 in 2023, according to a new Lancet Global Health study. The study, which analysed Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 data across all 54 African

By Michael Gwarisa  ViiV Healthcare has announced a new £9.75 million investment to strengthen HIV services for children and adolescents through the third phase of the Breakthrough Partnership, running from 2026 to 2029. The investment, made through ViiV Healthcare's Positive Action programme, will support the partnership's work in Cameroon, Mozambique,

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is stepping up efforts to find people with tuberculosis earlier and link them to treatment, as the government acknowledges that despite improvements in case notification and treatment outcomes, too many people remain unreached. The Ministry of Health and Child Care says the country is finding more

By Michael Gwarisa Despite meeting the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets overall, Zimbabwe’s HIV response could face growing pressure if it fails to secure alternative funding to cover gaps left by international donors and development partners, delegates to the Transition Initiative Stakeholder Dialogue on Health financing  have warned. The warning comes as

By Kuda Pembere At a time when Zimbabwe’s public debt has reached US$23.7 billion, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) has urged the government to join the proposed Borrowers Forum, bringing together debt-distressed countries to amplify their collective voice in efforts to address the global debt crisis. AHF Zimbabwe Country Director

By Michael Gwarisa The Democratic Republic of Congo’s response to the escalating Bundibugyo virus disease outbreak is facing a major surveillance gap, with Africa CDC estimating that current contact follow-up covers only about 27 percent of the contacts expected from the number of confirmed cases. Africa CDC Director-General Dr Jean

By Michael Gwarisa A multidisciplinary team of medical specialists from the United States is in Zimbabwe for a 12-day medical mission aimed at expanding access to specialised surgical care for underserved communities. The LEAP Global Missions team, working in partnership with Celebration Health, is conducting the Zimbabwe Medical Mission from

By Kudakwashe Pembere A delegation of Ugandan legislators is in Zimbabwe to benchmark the country’s HIV response, with community-led monitoring, HIV financing and innovations such as the Zimbabwe National Network of People Living with HIV (ZNNP+)’s Kutabila Platform among the initiatives under study. The Ugandan legislators visited ZNNP+ on Wednesday

By Michael Gwarisa For Dr Neddy Fungisai Makonza, the journey to becoming an orthopaedic surgeon began long before she entered a medical school or stepped into an operating theatre. It began in childhood, when her late mother would call her “Doctor Neddy”, a name that would eventually become a reality

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe abolished a law that criminalised HIV transmission four years ago. But a recent traditional court case in Shamva has raised fresh questions about whether people living with or affected by HIV can still face punitive consequences outside the formal criminal justice system. Chief Nyamaropa, Munyaradzi Tivange,

By Michael Gwarisa  More than two-thirds of people dying from Bundibugyo virus disease in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are still dying in their communities, raising concerns that patients are not reaching treatment facilities early enough to survive. The latest World Health Organization situation report shows that 193 of

By Michael Gwarisa Fiji has moved from describing HIV as an outbreak initially concentrated among people who inject drugs to declaring a national HIV emergency, as new data show the epidemic spreading beyond the population at the centre of the country’s initial response. The change marks a significant development in

By Michael Gwarisa   Zimbabwe is taking its fight against teenage pregnancy, child marriage and gender-based violence beyond villages and traditional leadership structures, with Parliament now being drawn into a growing national campaign aimed at changing how communities respond to the crisis. Acting Deputy Clerk of Parliament Lucia Nyawo said Members

By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is set to take part in a major Africa-led clinical trial testing whether long-acting injectable HIV treatment can help prevent mothers living with HIV from passing the virus to their babies during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The Phase 3 study, known as Supporting Programmatic Maternal Viral Suppression

 By Michael Gwarisa Women and girls took to the streets in Harare in solidarity with girls and young women facing the burden of early, unwanted and unintended pregnancies in Zimbabwe. The walkathon, organised by DatCitizen, saw participants carry backpacks deliberately weighted with books and sand to symbolise the burden pregnancy

By Michael Gwarisa Global Aid Missions Zimbabwe has launched a skin cancer prevention campaign targeting persons with albinism, offering free screening and cryotherapy treatment as part of efforts to detect and manage potentially cancerous skin lesions before they become severe. The faith-based humanitarian organisation, which advocates for the health and

By Kuda Pembere Property mogul and West Prop Holdings Limited chief executive officer Kenneth Sharpe has been appointed chairperson of the Zimbabwe End Malaria Council, which is expected to spearhead efforts to mobilise resources and strengthen partnerships towards eliminating malaria in the country. Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas