Category: AMR

Antimicrobial resistance

AMR Threatens SDGs Attainment In Africa

Michael Gwarisa
AMR

By Michael Gwarisa The World Health Organisation (WHO) data shows that Africa remains heavily burdened with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) compared to all WHO Regions. Africa also has the highest mortality from AMR despite the region having the lowest prevalence of resistance. In 2015, after realising the need for urgent action to combat the growing scourge of AMR, the World Health Assembly adopted the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. Over the years, AMR has been identified as a leading cause of treatment failure in several morbidities such as HIV tuberculosis…

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Zim among highly burdened AMR African countries with National Action Plans

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere With Zimbabwe drafting its second National Action Plan to reduce Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), it is among some African countries that is still battling high AMR, a study says. Compared to European countries with AMR national action plans, despite a display of commitment to ameliorate AMR issues, African countries are still struggling with the high burden. A study published in The Lancet titled ‘The burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in the WHO African region in 2019: a cross-country systematic analysis’, noted that implementation of these policies was the…

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Using alternatives to antimicrobials working for Murehwa poultry farmers

Kuda Pembere

By Kudakwashe Pembere in Murehwa BEFORE her damascene moment in poultry care, Christine Muunganirwa, a 50 year old woman in Kambarami Village in Ward Murehwa district suffered significant losses. Whenever the chicks fell ill, whether it was a cough, or oddly coloured stool, she rushed to administer some Amoxicillin tablets. Amoxicillin is the most abused antibiotic not only in human health but also poultry. To rationalize the use of antimicrobials in chickens, some nifty poultry farmers in Murehwa district have resorted to using traditional herbal medicines in lieu of antibiotics.…

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‘January disease’ vaccine revives Goromonzi cattle farmers’ hopes

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere recently in Goromonzi IT is 11 pm in the scotching sun as cattle jump into Mwanza Diptank in Mwanza Village,Goromonzi district, their usual place for dipping to fight against tickbone disease. Diptanks also known as plunge dips also provide the most effective and efficient method for controlling ticks in animals against ticks, flies, mites, lice and other external parasites. An hour earlier, delegates from United Nations quadripartite agencies of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization of Animal Health (WOAH), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and…

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Primary school pupils in Murehwa join AMR fight

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere recently in Murehwa Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a discipline which many are still trying to understand. It is an area of study that takes several years of study to understand and master. AMR is when antimicrobials cease working in an organism due to overuse or misuse. But this knowledge, is nothing compared to what the delegates from Africa Union and UN agencies namely the World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organization of Animal Health (WOAH), Africa CDC, and Africa Union InterAfrica Bureau of Animal…

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CPHIA 2023 Spotlights Need For Africa’s Collaboration in the Midst of Climate Change Linked Healthcare Challenges

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Lusaka, Zambia The third edition of the annual International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA2023, has kicked off in Lusaka, Zambia, amidst growing calls for African nations to combine efforts to address emerging health threats linked to Climate Change. The conference is running from November 27 to December 1, 2023 under the theme, “Breaking Barriers: Repositioning Africa in the Global Health Architecture.” The call to prioritise Climate Change comes at a time the continent is reeling from Climate Change induced health challenges such as rapid…

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Vet Department takes locally made cattle disease vaccination campaign to Mash East

Michael Gwarisa

By Kuda Pembere in Goromonzi The Veterinary Services Department under the Ministry of Agriculture have taken the Bolvac vaccine innoculation blitz to Goromonzi, a district in Mashonaland East to protect cattle from theileriosis better known as January Disease. Bolvac is a locally made vaccine using a Goromonzi strain to fortify bovine immunity against this tick disease affecting cattle. In an interview with Vet Services Tech department Deputy Director for Diagnostics and Research Dr Chenai Mujuru at Mwanza Diptank in Mwanza Village, Goromonzi, where the vaccine inoculation was demonstrated as part…

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Zim revises One Health AMR Action Plan

Kuda Pembere

By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe has completed its revised edition of the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) One Health Action Plan, the Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora said. With assistance from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water, Climate and Rural Development, as well as the Ministry of Environment spearheaded the process which began in May this year. In addition to helping to build evidence-based policies…

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Zimbabwe Introduces AMR Module In Nursing School

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa In a bid to capacitate healthcare workers to better deal with the rising scourge of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), has introduced an AMR module in nursing schools. This was revealed by Dr Rudo Chikodzore, the the Director of Epidemiology and Diseases Control in the Ministry of Health uring a Press Briefing to mark World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) being hosted in Harare, Zimbabwe. The World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign to raise awareness and understanding of AMR…

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Ministry of Health Reads Riot Act To Pharmacies Dispensing Antibiotics Without Prescriptions

Michael Gwarisa
Antibiotics

To curb to the proliferation of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) related infections, the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) has warned pharmacies to stop the selling or dispensing antibiotics to patients without prescriptions. By Michael Gwarisa This follows scientific data which affirms that Antibiotic dispensing without prescriptions is a major determinant of the emergence of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) which has impact on population health and cost of healthcare delivery. Speaking at the Inaugural Joint Community Pharmacies Association (CPA) and Pharmaceutical Wholesalers Association (PWA) Joint Conference in Harare, Health and Child…

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