Month: July 2017

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

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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

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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

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…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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Universities Ignoring Students Health Needs- NAC

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By Michael Gwarisa in Kadoma  THE National Aids Council (NAC), has castigated local Universities for  embarking on expansion projects without considering issues of complimentary health care services for students. Zimbabwe has over the years seen a number of Universities expanding their operations into other localities owing to increased demand of tertiary education amongst Zimbabweans. The Midlands State University (MSU) opened a new campus in Zvishavane in 2015 and recently another one in Harare as it aims to take its services to various parts of the country. Addressing Journalists, NAC, DREAMS Director,…

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Oral Sex Spreading Tongue Cancer

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By Michael Gwarisa in Kadoma  ORAL Sex has been identified as the leading driver of Tongue Cancer in the country, with a number of cases having been detected already in most parts of the country, a Cancer Association of Zimbabwe official has said. Briefing Journalists during a National Aids Council Editors Sensitisation Workshop on HIV/AIDS reporting in Kadoma,  Cancer Association of Zimbabwe Information and Evaluation Officer Lovemore Makurirofa said the same Human Papillomavirus  (HPV) which causes cervical cancer could be the reason behind the new tongue cancer cases being recorded.…

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Child Prostitution in Hopley Farm – The Vulnerability of Young Girls and the Struggle for Survival

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By Karen Mangwiro Antagonistic life experiences such as divorce or death of parents or caregivers, neglect and abuse by families and extended family members as well as peer pressure can leave the girl child vulnerable to various forms of self-destructive behaviour such as promiscuity among other negative behaviours. At times the girl child tries to solve the emotional pain she holds. General family problems such as broken homes, death of parents when the children are still young and the absence of a reliable guardian to care for them are the…

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Zim NGOs In Abortion Dilema…As Trump Gov Tightens Screws

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By Michael Gwarisa NON governmental organisations operating in Zimbabwe are caught between a rock and a hard surface as to whether they should support safe abortion or not as they fear frustrating top donors, HealthTimes can reveal. It has emerged that the United States Government is by far the biggest donor in most if not all donor related activities in Zimbabwe, and the recent move by the Donald Trump administration to stop financing any organisation that advocates for abortion has left many NGOs in a state quandary. Briefing Journalists during…

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Churches Embrace Condoms

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By Michael Gwarisa CHURCHES in Zimbabwe are gradually embracing family planning and reproductive health initiatives including condoms, as the country moves towards reducing high fertility and the high teenage pregnancies cases that have rocked the country, HealthTimes has learnt. Apostolic sects and other churches have traditionally been known for being breeding grounds for underage marriages and teenage pregnancies owing to their beliefs which allow them to marry multiple “virgin” wives. Also Read: Zim Beats Global Family Planning target  Responding to a question during a Media Sensitisation Meeting on Adolescents Sexual Reproductive…

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Rimuka TB/HIV Care Centre commissioned

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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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Gov deploys more nurses

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By Staff Reporter GOVERNMENT has began deployment of an additional 2 000 nurses to help improve services delivery in health institutions across the country, a Cabinet minister has revealed. Health delivery in the country is reportedly being hampered by shortage of personnel, especially nurses owing to a recruitment freeze that was imposed by government during the time of the inclusive government as a way of containing the runaway wage bill. Zimbabwe’s public service wage bill currently stands at an unsustainably 91.7 percent of total budget revenue. Although there is a…

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