EVERY battle has its heroes and for Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 raging war, we owe everything to our dedicated health personal, government, community health players, media and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) for joining hands in fighting this unwelcome visitor called COVID-19.
In every battle, information plays a key role in equipping fighters with strategies and ways to either evade the enemy or take him on head-on. Misinformation and the propagation of wrong and false information however could lead soldiers and innocent civilians right into the hands of the enemy, hence the need for reliable sources of information under war circumstances.
The COVID-19 period is no different from a war situation and the need for reliable and factual information cannot be overemphasized. Over the past two years since we first recorded the virus in Zimbabwe, there have been individuals who have been consistent in communicating reliable and truthful information around COVID-19, vaccines and vaccinations. The list below is not in any order but just meant to appreciate individuals who took it upon themselves to be the voice of reason and communicate the COVID-19 even when it was not easy to do so.
Dr Agnes Mahomva
Dr Mahomva is the Chief COVID-19 Coordinator in the Office of the President and Cabinet in Zimbabwe. Despite her duties as national coordinator, Dr Mahomba has maintained an Open door policy to all media regardless of background and has been instrumental in giving essential updates regarding COVID-19 in the country.
Dr Brighton Chireka:
Even though he is based overseas, it appears detaching the umbilical cord that links Dr Brighton Chireka to developments in his home country’s health sector is almost an impossibility. Throughout the pandemic, Dr Chireka has been at the forefront, sharing COVID-19 updates and trends on social media and through other news outlets just to keep the nation informed. Dr Chireka was behind the creation of a Facebook group, “The CORONVIRUS COVID-19 Zimbabwe” together with other doctors. The group now has close to 100 000 followers, all Zimbabweans from within and outside the country who seek to get reliable information regarding the COVID-19 situation in the country. Through his daily updates, Zimbabweans have been motivated to take up vaccination as well as adhere to World Health Organisation (WHO) prevention protocols. Dr Chireka is an International Health Consultant, GP Partner & Clinical lead of SKC CCG. He is a Fellow of the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management. Dr Chireka is the Founding Chairperson of Zimbabwean Diaspora Health Alliance (ZDHA) and also a Founder Trustee of CC Foundation in Zimbabwe which offers scholarships to students from deprived backgrounds.
Dr Lincoln Charimari
Dr Charimari is the World Health Organisation (WHO) Zimbabwe COVID-19 Team Leader. For the better part of 2021, Dr Charimari has been engaging media in various virtual meetings giving his expert insights on the vaccination situation as well as the COVID-19 situation.
Through his presentations, local media has to a greater extent been empowered and can now interpret certain trends as well as unpack the vaccination message even to the layman on the streets.
Dr Grant Murewanhema:
Dr Grant as he is known by many, is a consultant Epidemiologist, public health expert, Specialist Obstetrician-Gynaecologist, Resident in Gynaecology Endoscopy and Research Fellow. Despite his busy schedule, Dr Grant has been at the forefront, communicating daily the COVID-19 situation in the country through the Zimbabwe “The CORONVIRUS COVID-19 Zimbabwe Facebook group. He also uses his personal twitter account to communicate updates and messages around COVID-19 and vaccines.
Dr Grant has been consistent throughout the pandemic writing weekly Opinions and analysis of the COVID-19 situation in the country in the HealthTimes news publication.
Mr Itai Rusike
Mr Itai Rusike is a public health advocate and the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) Executive Director. Since the pandemic was reported in Zimbabwe, he has been at the forefront of giving adequate and accurate information around COVID-19 and how communities could better hedge themselves against the virus. For the entire COVID-19 period, Mr Rusike has never turned down an interview from Journalists seeking comments around COVID-19, vaccinations and other related issues. Apart from entertaining media, Mr Rusike and his organisation also embarked on an extensive community COVID-19 vaccination campaign which saw them erect a huge banner in Chitungwiza as part of efforts to increase awareness and uptake of vaccines in the areas around Chitungwiza and Seke rural communities. Chitungwiza has been struggling in terms of vaccinating its huge population and to date, they still have the lowest coverage for both first and second doses. However, since the erection of the banner and increased vaccine awareness by the CWGH and Mr Rusike, the numbers are going up. Kudos for the great job!
Professor Solwayo Ngwenya
Some have called him controversial, while some have since last year 2020, labelled him a prophet of doom due to his candid and non-compromising approach to safety and adherence to World Health Organisation (WHO) prevention protocols. It has also emerged that if there is anyone who really understands and has studied the COVID-19 trends in Zimbabwe, it is Professor Ngwenya. He has been consistent in calling for strict adherence of COVID-19 measures and has always been against relaxing of some measures. Professor Ngwenya is the Chief Executive Officer for Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo.
Dr Tinashe Gede
Dr Gede is a Harare based Physician and former lecturer in the department of medicine at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ). Dr Gede is also an immunologist and has been informing the nation on issues around vaccines, their make-up and effectiveness though science and media Cafes that were hosted by the Health Communicators Forum in Zimbabwe (HCFZ). As someone who has been treating and attending to COVID-19 patients since the virus was reported in the country, Dr Gede has been instrumental in giving reliable information regarding the symptoms and sighs to look out for in COVID-19. Dr Gede graduated from UZ in 2007 before proceeding to Oxford University in the United Kingdom (UK) for an MSc in Immunology as well as Masters in Public Health before pursuing training in Clinical Medicine initially at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and advanced specialist training in Internal Medicine at the University of Pittsburg in the USA with special training in Critical Care Medicine.
Dr Johannes Marisa
Dr Marisa is the Medical and Dental Private Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association Trust (MDPPZA) president. Many a times, Private medical players are not forthcoming in terms of giving out information especially to the media.
However, Dr Marisa is a different breed as he has been open for business throughout the pandemic, giving a private sector perspective to the pandemic.
As we enter the fourth wave of COVID-19 currently being driven by the Omicron variant, let us continue working together in ensuring members of the public stay informed and up to date with obtaining trends and information.
