Month: August 2020

New UNAIDS Report Raise Concerns Over Human Rights Abuse For Persons Living With HIV, Key Populations & Health Workers During COVID-19 Pandemic

Michael Gwarisa

A new report published by the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) has noted high incidences of human rights abuse for health workers, persons living with HIV and key populations at high risk of HIV infection since the pandemic was reported in several countries. By Michael Gwarisa The report, “Rights in a pandemic – Lockdowns, rights and lessons from HIV in the early response to COVID-19″   is a snapshot in time, focusing on the very early days of the pandemic, from February till mid-May 2020, drawing attention to…

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WHO Reports 90% Disruptions To Key Health Services Since COVID-19 Pandemic

Healthtimes

THE World Health Organisation (WHO) has published a first indicative survey on the impact of COVID-19 on health systems based on 105 countries’ reports amidst data collected from five regions over the period from March to June 2020  which illustrate that almost every country (90%) experienced disruption to its health services, with low- and middle-income countries reporting the greatest difficulties. HealthTimes Most countries reported that many routine and elective services have been suspended, while critical care – such as cancer screening and treatment and HIV therapy – has seen high-risk…

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Provide Food Basket Instead To Avert COVID-19 Induced Malnutrition- Gvt Told

Michael Gwarisa

THE Zimbabwe Civil Society Organisations Scaling Up Nutrition (ZCSOSUNA) has called on government to  replace the current ZW$200 food assistance cash transfer assistance being given to vulnerable households with a nutritious food basket  in a bit to avert a spike in Severe Acute Malnutrition cases. By Michael Gwarisa Briefing Journalists this morning, ZCSOSUNA National Coordinator, Mr Kudakwashe Zombe said food and nutrition assistance need to be at the heart of social protection programmes especially under the prevailing environment where revenue streams have been disrupted at the back of lockdown restrictions.…

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SAfAIDS Launches Strategy (2021-2025) To Advance Access To SRHR For All

Healthtimes

SOUTHERN Africa HIV & AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) has launched strategy 2021-2025 in a bid to advance Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) through promoting Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI), and Resilience building. According to SAFAIDS, the goals and objectives of the strategy can only be achieved through prioritising populations defined as vulnerable, marginalised, hard-to-penetrate or motivate, key or at-risk; divided by trait and identity; across community, institutional, policy-making and leadership levels. We are fully cognisant that SRH outcomes can no longer be sustained in isolation, without…

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First Woman May Be Cured of HIV Without a Bone Marrow Transplant

Healthtimes

Loreen Willenberg is part of a group of elite controllers whose HIV appears to be locked away where it can’t produce new virus. A California woman may be the first person to be cured of HIV without a bone marrow transplant, according to a recent report in Nature. More than 60 other so-called elite controllers, who have unusually potent immune responses to HIV, were found to have their virus sequestered in parts of their genome where it is unable to replicate. HealthTimes The unusual case involves Loreen Willenberg, who acquired…

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TelOne, NetOne Partner To Refurbish Sally Mugabe Hospital Ward

Michael Gwarisa

 TELONE in partnership with mobile network operator, NetOne have combined efforts to refurbish and fully equip a ward at Sally Mugabe Hospital (formally Harare Hospital), a move that  is set to improve service delivery at the health institution. By Michael Gwarisa Officiating at the Ward Handover Ceremony, First Lady, Mai Auxilia Mnangagwa said the gesture by the two entities was a step in the right direction for the country’s health sector which is currently in need of recapitalisation. I am delighted to be officiating at this event today, which is…

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2018 Cholera Drug Resistance Burden Linked To Poor Waste Management

Michael Gwarisa

IMPROPER disposal and management of waste in Zimbabwe has given rise to Antimicrobial drug resistance (AMR) especially for diarrhoeal diseases as people end up continuously taking antibiotics to manage recurring diseases, Director Epidemiology and Disease Control in the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), Dr Portia Manangazira has said. By Michael Gwarisa The revelations also follows a recent study by local epidemiologists which concluded that the Cholera epidemic of 2018 which ravaged Zimbabwe, had high incidences of drug resistance which made it difficult to contain the disease using the…

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Africa Declared Polio Free, WHO Director Salutes Partners

Healthtimes

Africa Regional Certification Commission certified the WHO African Region as wild polio-free after four years without a case. With this historic milestone, five of the six WHO regions – representing over 90% of the world’s population – are now free of the wild poliovirus, moving the world closer to achieving global polio eradication. Only two countries worldwide continue to see wild poliovirus transmission: Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) congratulates the national governments of the 47 countries in the WHO African Region for today’s achievement. Ending wild…

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Dapirivirine Ring Not Substitute For Other HIV Prevention Methods- Dr Mgodi

Michael Gwarisa
Dr Nyaradzo Mgodi MBChB, MMed, Investigator of Record, HPTN-084 Zimbabwe – University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences Clinical Trials Research Centre, and HPTN Executive Committee Member

THE Dapirivirine Vaginal Ring, a new effective HIV prevention tool for women, is not a substitute for existing  HIV prevention methods but rather an innovation to expand prevention options for women, Dr Nyaradzo Mgodi an HIV expert and histopathologist   has said. By Michael Gwarisa Speaking during a Twitter Question and Answer session that was organized by HealthTimes, Dr Mgodi said women need safe and effective biomedical HIV prevention strategies for use throughout their lives and the Dapirivirine ring presented women with such an opportunity. Studies of other HIV prevention…

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TREATS tuberculosis (TB) study launches COVID-19 study using existing mobile TB testing facilities in Zambia

Healthtimes

A major TB study currently underway and aimed at investigating methods to reduce TB prevalence and infection in Zambia and South Africa will soon begin testing for COVID-19 using existing mobile TB testing facilities in the Bwacha – Ngungu community of Kabwe in Zambia. HealthTimes Reporter The 18-month study will be nested within the ongoing TREATS study to measure the prevalence and spread of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) in Zambia working with one urban community with a target population of 28,000. The country has recorded 11,345 confirmed cases with 282 COVID-19 deaths (classified…

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