95 Out of Every 100 Zimbabwean Babies Now Born in Health Facilities
Michael Gwarisa If 100 Zimbabwean women gave birth in 2024, about 95 would have delivered their babies in a clinic or hospital, while only four would have given birth at home, reflecting the country’s continued shift towards safer, facility-based childbirth. The figures were revealed during the launch and dissemination of the 2023-2024 Vital Statistics Report
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Zimbabwe Urged to Invest More in Midwives as Global Shortage Hits One Million
Michael Gwarisa in Bulawayo The Government of Zimbabwe has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening the country’s health workforce amid growing calls for increased investment in midwives to help reduce maternal and newborn deaths. Speaking during the International Day of the Midwife commemorations and awards ceremony held at United Bulawayo Hospitals, Deputy Minister of Health and
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Hauna District Hospital Records Zero Maternal Deaths in Over 4,000 Births Since 2022
Michael Gwarisa, Manicaland “My labour pains felt like a running stomach. I did not realise I was about to give birth,” recalls Sophia Uranda from Chavhanga Village in Honde Valley. What began as mild discomfort quickly turned into an emergency. On her way to the clinic, the contractions intensified, forcing her to deliver by the
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The Cost of Inaction: Urgent Attention to Abortion Law in Zimbabwe
By Mildred Mushunje (PhD) & Dean Mutata (BSc, MSc) Background Zimbabwe’s health crisis is often framed in terms of economic decline or health financing gaps. Yet there is another crisis, silent, gendered, and entirely preventable, rooted in abortion policy inaction. Trapped between inherited colonial law, religious anxiety, and political discomfort and misinformed moralistic judgemental attitudes,
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“Gore Mwana” Practice Raises Risk Of Birth Complications, Experts Warn
Michael Gwarisa Zimbabwe’s leading family planning expert and trainer with the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC), Thandekile Munemo, has cautioned women against closely spaced pregnancies, warning that insufficient recovery time between births can pose serious health risks for both mothers and children. The concept of “gore mwana mwawa”, a Shona phrase loosely translated as
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Maternal anaemia fuels intergenerational malnutrition in Zimbabwe
Michael Gwarisa Maternal anaemia is tightening its grip on Zimbabwe, with the latest Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) revealing a sharp and worrying rise over the past decade. In 2015, 27 percent of women of childbearing age (15 to 49) were anaemic. Today, that figure has climbed to 41.8 percent, a nearly 55 percent
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World Health Day Theme Reflected in Zimbabwe’s IVF Breakthroughs
Staff Reporter Zimbabwe joins the world in marking World Health Day today (April 7) under the theme “Together for Health. Stand with Science.” This year’s theme highlights how scientific innovation is transforming healthcare, making advanced solutions more inclusive and accessible. In vitro fertilization (IVF) is one of the most striking examples of science at work.
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Zimbabwe Probes Genetic Link in Unexplained Infertility Cases
Michael Gwarisa Data shows up to 20 percent of couples face unexplained infertility, where science has not identified a clear cause, prompting Zimbabwean medical experts to launch a study exploring potential genetic links to infertility. While science has established that factors such as poor sperm quality, low sperm count, uterine abnormalities in women, fibroids, and
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Zimbabwe’s Family Planning Council Operating on a Shoestring Budget
Michael Gwarisa Despite a multimillion-dollar pledge made by the Government of Zimbabwe at the International Conference on Family Planning in Bogotá, Colombia, where Health and Child Care Minister Dr Douglas Mombeshora announced an additional US$2.25 million per year for contraceptive procurement in 2026 and 2027, the country’s Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) is struggling to make
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Zimbabwe Expands Fistula Repair Camps as Thousands of Women Await Surgery
Kuda Pembere Fewer than 2 000 women and adolescent girls in Zimbabwe have received corrective surgery for obstetric fistula since specialised repair camps began in 2014, prompting health authorities to expand the programme nationwide to tackle a backlog of thousands living with the preventable childbirth injury. According to the Zimbabwe Health Demographic Survey (2023-24), about
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