Zim Young People Living With HIV Forced To Bribe Hospital Staff To Get Second Line Drugs, Told To Produce Empty ARVs Containers At Security Checkpoints To Prove They Are HIV+ During Early Stages Of Lockdown

LIFE under the COVID-19 induced lockdown has never been the same since the day the Zimbabwean government announced a nationwide lockdown which commenced on March 30, 2020. For most young people living with HIV and on treatment, the emotional scars the lockdown has inflicted on them will take time to heal, as they had to surrender some of their rights and dignity just to access lifesaving Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs. By Michael Gwarisa For 22-year-old Takudzwa who lives in Harare and on second line Antiretroviral (ARVs) treatment, accessing HIV treatment under…

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Phillip Morris & Swedish Match Amongst Leading Tobacco Companies Advancing Tobacco Harm Reduction- Tobacco Transformation Index Finds

THE first Tobacco Transformation Index released this week and made possible with funding from the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, finds that most of the 15 largest tobacco companies are not making substantive progress in phasing out cigarettes and other high-risk tobacco products and transitioning smokers to reduced-risk alternatives. By Michael Gwarisa A small group of companies have made public commitments to harm reduction and backed them with significant investments. A majority of companies have made no such commitment to tobacco harm reduction. With 1.3 billion tobacco users in the…

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Zimbabwe Commences Nationwide Deworming Exercise, 300 000 Targeted For free Bilharzia Treatment in Shamva and Mount Darwin

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Higherlife Foundation have kick-started the National Mass Treatment for bilharzia and intestinal worms as a follow-up to the healthcare worker’s Mass Drug Administration (MDA) training exercise which concluded last week in Shamva and Mount Darwin. By Michael Gwarisa The National Mass Treatment exercise started in Mashonaland Central Province this week in (Shamva and Mount Darwin). WHO started their support visit at Chitse Clinic in Mt Darwin where WHO is providing on the job…

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