Day: June 18, 2023

CeSSHAR, NAC empower Beitbridge sex workers

Kuda Pembere

Donning a baby-blue t-shirt, is a bespectacled bubbly 55 year old woman feeling young enough to compete with the ama2000 who are plying the sex work trade, the oldest profession in the world. By Kuda Pembere recently in Beitbridge Widowed, left a pauper with four children, the tinted short-haired Winnie Phiri was advised by a neighbour to venture into sex work as a way out of poverty. As a sex worker, she thought unprotected sex would please her clients as she did her husband. Coupled with the gang-rape, Winnie was…

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Shot In The Arm For Pensioners As NSSA Unveils Health Centre

Michael Gwarisa

It is a Thursday afternoon and Simon Kanenga (75) a pensioner from Masvingo,smiles to himself in anticipation of a new lease of life from the National Social Security Authority (NSSA). By Edward Makuzva The authority has announced that it is in the process of setting up pensioners’ mobile clinics in its six regions which include Kanengas’ area. However, Kanengas’ smile is shortlived when he remembers that he had just buried his childhood friend from diabetes. Again,its been years since he has also been diagnosed with the same disease and has…

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Zim Health facilities beef-up security As thieves ransack solar systems

Michael Gwarisa

Some hospitals and clinics across the country have been left counting their losses following a spate of vandalism of solar components by daring thieves. By Michael Gwarisa The thieves are targeting mainly solar panels, inverters, gel and lithium batteries that were installed across 1045 health facilities in Zimbabwe, through a Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) Solar for Health project being supported by the UNDP-Global Fund initiative. The solar systems are 5kW, 7kW, 10kW or 40kW, depending on the size of the facility and energy requirements to power specific…

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Leading Medical Aid discontinues ZimDollar payments

Michael Gwarisa

Masca Medical Aid Society has informed its members of the discontinuation of direct payments to Pharmacies for members with Zimbabwean Dollar Schemes. By Staff Reporter In the communique, the Masca said this move was necessitated by the prevailing economic environment. Due to the persistently high volatility of the ZWL exchange rate, we regret to inform you that we will be discontinuing the direct Zimbabwe dollar payments to pharmacies for drug claims effective 15 June 2023 till further notice. This decision has been made after careful consideration of the current economic…

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Rehabilitation dilemma for Zim’s poor Drug and Substance Addicts

Michael Gwarisa

Zimbabwe is struggling to offer proper drug abuse rehabilitation services with majority of patients currently being admitted in psychiatric units in public health institutions which in most cases, are ill equipped to provide drug abuse rehabilitation services. By Michael Gwarisa In 2022, data from the Ministry of Health and Child Care indicated that 75 percent to 85 percent of bed occupancy in mental health institutions was due to substance use. Information gathered by this publication recently reveals that public health facilities are struggling to deal with the swelling numbers of…

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Public Health Practitioners Association of Zim launched

Kuda Pembere

THE Public Health Practitioners Association of Zimbabwe (PHPAZ) was on Friday launched following a resolution from the Public Health Symposium held last year to influence agenda setting on public health priorities in the country. By Kuda Pembere The association comprises of members from various fields such as environmental health, nutrition, law, pharmaceutical development, social science amongst other disciplines and intends to bond all stakeholders in the healthcare industry towards the common goal of improving health in the communities. One of the primary objectives of this association is to promote disease…

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