Zim Health Fraternity Mourns Pioneering Obstetrician Dr Booker Kambarami
By Kuda Pembere Zimbabwe’s medical fraternity is mourning the death of Dr Booker Kambarami, one of the country’s pioneering specialists in obstetrics and gynaecology, who died on August 15. He was 76. In a condolence message issued on Sunday, the Ministry of Health and Child Care’s Permanent Secretary Dr Aspect Maunganidze described Dr Kambarami’s death
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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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Zimbabwe Promises Free Caesarean Sections Once National Health Insurance Programme Takes Effect
By Michael Gwarisa The Government has acknowledged that financial barriers are preventing some pregnant women from accessing life-saving maternal healthcare and says it is finalising legislation that will introduce free healthcare for every Zimbabwean citizen and resident. Responding to concerns raised in Parliament, Minister of Health and Child Care Dr Douglas Mombeshora said the proposed
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At 17, Motherhood Changed Her Plans. Family Planning Helped Her Rewrite Them
By Kuda Pembere in Mash Central On a cool Monday morning, Christabel Chiweso arrives at Wadzanayi Clinic, a health facility run by the Shamva Rural District Council. This time, she is not seeking a family planning method for herself. Instead, she has accompanied her sister-in-law, who wants to start using contraception. The two women have
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Zimbabwe Rebuilds Midwifery Workforce Through Training and Digital Innovation
By Michael Gwarisa “I enjoy midwifery because, to me, it gives me the satisfaction that I am saving humanity and playing a part in bringing lives into this world,” says Sr Sikhangele Mguni, a midwife at Mpilo Hospital in Bulawayo. For Sr Mguni, those words are not just a reflection. They are a lifetime of
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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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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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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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