Zimbabwe Makes Inroads In Addressing Severe NCDs Through The PEN-Plus Strategy

By Michael Gwarisa According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data, more than 560 000 avoidable deaths occur annually among the world’s poorest children and young adults with nearly 100 000 of these deaths being caused by only four conditions namely Type 1 diabetes mellitus, sickle cell disease, rheumatic and congenital heart disease. Just like most countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, Zimbabwe is experiencing a huge burden in Severe Non-Communicable Diseases which, unlike ordinary NCDs, do not get much public health attention despite them accounting for several deaths every…

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Turning Lemons into Lemonade: How Type 1 Diabetic Survivor Tinotenda Dzikiti Is Conquering The World Stage

By Michael Gwarisa At age 13, in 2010, Tinotenda Dzikiti accompanied his parents for the Christmas holidays in the village. Unbeknown to him, his life was about to change in the coming few days. What started as normal festive mood cravings for fizzy drinks, food and sweet things later turned out to be symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes, a condition he has had to live with ever since. Even in the few weeks preceding the Christmas holidays, Tino started losing weight and developing an insatiable appetite for fluids and sweet…

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