WITH Zimbabwe put in panic mode following its western neighbour Botswana’s suspected novel coronavirus case, national health authorities have assured they neither have suspected nor confirmed cases. By Kudakwashe Pembere In a statement, Health and Child Care Preventive Services Chief Director Dr Gibson Mhlanga disputed the viral messages on social media claiming Zimbabwe as having a suspected case of the n-COv. “The Ministry of Health and Child Care would like to clarify that as of today 31 January 2020, no cases or suspects of coronavirus have been reported in Zimbabwe…
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Govt Gazettes New Pharmaceutical Industry License Fees
GOVERNMENT has issued a statutory instrument gazetting new license fees for the pharmaceutical industry. The fees come in the local Zimbabwe dollar (Z$) and foreign currency (USD). Find the fees in the document below SI. 21 of 2020 Medicines and Allied import export
Read MoreCimas Launches iGo Wellness Hub
CIMAS Medical Aids has launched the iGo Hub offering integrated health and wellness products for its members. By Kudakwashe Pembere Housed at Borrowdale Race Course, the iGo Hub for health and wellness buffs comes barely four years after the launch of iGo. “iGo was launched in 2016 as part of our new thrust to ensure that our members live longer healthier lives. Externally, this new direction was influenced by the overall theme of SDG3 which is “to ensure healthy lives and promote well being for all at all ages’,” said…
Read MoreUNFPA Zimbabwe Donates Vehicle For Anti Domestic Violence Council Activities
THE United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) Zimbabwe has donated a Toyota Land Cruiser vehicle to help the Anti-Domestic Violence Council (ADVC) reach usually missed remote areas . By Kudakwashe Pembere Speaking at the handover ceremony, UNFPA Zimbabwe country director Dr Esther Muia said they have been supporting ADVC since its inception through understanding their role in Domestic Violence Act, tabling it in parliament and helping to build capacity as well as developing the Anti Domestic Violence Council first strategic plan. She said the vehicle was meant to improve access in…
Read MoreWHO Declares Coronavirus Global Health Emergency
THE World Health Organisation has finally declared the novel coronavirus a global health emergency as the China death toll rose to 213 with cases surging up to 9,692 on 30 January. By Kudakwashe Pembere The concern is that it could spread to countries with weaker health systems. “The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The WHO said there had been 98 cases in 18 other countries, but no deaths. Most international…
Read MoreZim Has Highest HIV Criminalisation Prosecutions In Africa
ZIMBABWE has the highest rate of HIV criminalisation prosecutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and the sixth highest in the world owing to what legal experts have termed a vague and retrogressive piece of legislation. By Michael Gwarisa in Kadoma Briefing journalists at Editors Media Workshop organised by NAC in Kadoma, NAC Legal Advisor, Mr Fanuel Ncube said the criminalisation legislation has a had a negative implication on the HIV response and parliament should move with speed to ensure its repealed. In terms of the prosecutions, Zimbabwe among one of the highest…
Read MoreZim Lauded For TB Response Innovations
AN official from The Challenge TB headquarters in The Hague has commended Zimbabwe’s progress in fighting TB through its various innovations. By Kudakwashe Pembere Deputy Project Director Challenge TB at KNCV Tuberculosis Foundation Dr Emmy van der Grinten during the CHALLENGE TB Close Out Ceremony said the country has appealing innovations which can be replicated elsewhere. “I want to focus on key activities that have been pioneered in Zimbabwe which can be an example for the rest of the world really. There are some activities which you have done that…
Read MoreCoronavirus: Scientists race to develop a vaccine
BBC , San Diego (January 30, 2020) A deadly new virus. Thousands of people infected. No cure. No vaccine. We’ve been here many times before. In the past five years alone, the world has faced outbreaks of Ebola, Zika, another coronavirus called Mers (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), and now the virus simply known as “2019-nCoV”. It’s already infected thousands of people and killed more than 100. But unlike in many previous outbreaks, where vaccines to protect people have taken years to develop, research for a vaccine to help stem this…
Read MoreEND Fund Launches Deworming Innovation Fund in Zimbabwe
HARARE, ZIMBABWE, (January 30, 2020) -In recognition of the first-ever World NTD Day, the END Fund is bringing together private and public sector stakeholders to imagine a world free from diseases caused by parasitic worms that have held back human progress for millennia. Today, the END Fund announces its Audacious project – the Deworming Innovation Fund – in four strategic countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. In April 2019, The Audacious Project announced its support of the END Fund and seven other organizations. The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding…
Read MoreGovernment Medicines Siphoned To Uzumba Surgery
AT a time when rural folk find their health facilities void of medicines it has been discovered they are finding their way at surgeries and unlicensed pharmacies. By Kudakwashe Pembere Medicines stolen from Government health facilities have for a while been finding their way to surgeries and facilities in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe without dispensing licenses, the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has unearthed. The Medicines Authority during a recent inspection at Mutawatawa in Uzumba Maramba Pfungwe found various types of unregistered medicines. “Following tip offs from members of the…
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