- AU, EU Deepen Health Partnership with €100 Million Investment in Africa’s Health Systems
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- Merck Once-Daily ARV Pill Could Reach Market Soon
- Global South Pressures EU to Finalise Equity Clause in Pandemic Agreement
- Health Minister Dr Mombeshora Appeals for End to Nurses’ Strike
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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Misinformation at the Heart of Clause 11 Deletion – Mushoriwa
Michael Gwarisa The Medical Services Amendment Bill [H.B. 6B, 2024] has returned to the National Assembly weeks after passing through the Senate with key amendments. One of the most controversial changes was the deletion of Clause 11, which sought to simplify access to safe abortion under conditions already permitted by Zimbabwean law. Currently, abortion is
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Lonely in Marriage: Why Some Zim Men Pay Sex Workers Just to Talk
Patricia Mashiri In 2025, Issac (Not real name), a 43-year-old man from Kuwadzana Extension in Harare, did something he had promised never to do in his marriage: he hired a sex worker. After a long evening, he found himself lingering in the lodgings of a sex worker near Holland, Kuwadzana 6. One conversation led to
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Nedbank embarks on major Edith Opperman Maternity Clinic refurbishment
Staff Reporter Financial institution Nedbank Zimbabwe has started a major infrastructure and medical equipment upgrade at Edith Opperman Maternity Clinic in Mbare to help strengthen maternal and child healthcare services. The refurbishment work includes roof repairs and repainting, interior and exterior wall repairs and painting, ceiling repairs and replacement, brick dressing and general structural
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