For Some Zimbabwean Children, a School Meal Can Mean More Than Food
By Michael Gwarisa “Sometimes we go the whole day without eating because there is no food at school.” For one learner in Buhera District, the reality of school feeding is summed up in a single sentence. For children who depend on meals provided at school, the availability of food can mean more than simply satisfying
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Red, Amber, Green: Zimbabwe Plans New Warning Labels for Unhealthy Foods
By Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe is considering introducing colour-coded food labels that would make it easier for parents and caregivers to identify foods high in sugar, salt and fat, as the Government moves to strengthen regulation of unhealthy food products and their marketing to children. The proposed system would use familiar traffic-light colours to provide an
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When Pregnancy Follows Rape: The Consequences Survivors Carry Long After the Assault
By Michael Gwarisa For a survivor of rape, the assault may last minutes or hours. Its consequences can last much longer. Sometimes, those consequences are visible. There may be physical injuries, the need for medical treatment or concerns about sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Other consequences are less visible. Fear, anxiety, shame, difficulty trusting others
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Zimbabwe’s Abortion Law After Rape: What Changed, What Didn’t and What Survivors Need to Know
Zimbabwe’s Abortion Law After Rape: What Changed, What Didn’t and What Survivors Need to Know By Michael Gwarisa Early in 2026, Zimbabwe’s abortion debate moved from the margins into Parliament. At the centre of the controversy was Clause 11 of the Medical Services Amendment Bill, a provision that ignited intense debate among lawmakers, health professionals,
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Rebuilding After the Floods: Red Cross Support Gives Beitbridge Families Hope
By Michael Gwarisa in Beitbridge Seventy-year-old Gogo Lucia Changunda walks with a limp as she slowly pushes a wheelbarrow laden with food items and dignity kits. After moving only a few metres from the distribution point, where Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS) staff, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) representatives and
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She Survived Rape. Now She Is Pregnant. Should Tariro Get to Decide What Happens Next?
By Michael Gwarisa Tariro is only 19. A few weeks ago, she was on cloud nine. She had just been accepted into university to study law. After years of hard work, good grades and determination, the future seemed to be falling into place. She had plans, the kind that belong to a young woman her
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PSZ Opens Harare CBD Clinic to Expand Access to Sexual and Primary Healthcare
By Michael Gwarisa Population Services Zimbabwe (PSZ) has opened a new clinic in Harare’s Central Business District, expanding access to sexual and reproductive health, primary healthcare and non-communicable disease services for people who live and work in the city centre. The clinic, located at Eastgate Mall, will provide a range of services including family planning,
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Rural Outreach Screens 1,164 Women Living With HIV for Cervical Cancer, But Treatment Delays Persist
By Michael Gwarisa A nurse-led outreach programme in rural Zimbabwe screened more than 1,100 women living with HIV for cervical cancer in a year, with seven in 10 accessing the service through outreach clinics, new data has shown. The programme, implemented through Kamutsenzere Rural Health Centre and nine outreach sites in Mt Darwin, Mashonaland Central,
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Africa Is Ready to Lead: CPHIA 2026 Opens a New Chapter for Public Health Sovereignty
By Michael Gwarisa Africa is preparing to write a new chapter in its public health story—one defined less by dependency and vulnerability and increasingly by African leadership, science, innovation and the determination to take ownership of the continent’s health future. That ambition will take centre stage when the 5th International Conference on Public Health in
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Beyond the Lancet Report, There Are People Like Martha Growing Old With HIV
By Michael Gwarisa For 22 years, Martha Tholanah has lived with HIV. When she was diagnosed on January 3, 2003, the future looked bleak. She had fallen ill and gone for an HIV test shortly before starting a new job. Her CD4 count was just 31, indicating severe immune suppression at a time when an
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