Category: Features

Why Africans and Europeans React To Medicines Differently: Zimbabwean Scientist Tests Effectiveness of Pharmacogenetics in African Populations

Michael Gwarisa

While some patients experience adverse drug reactions (ADRs) when taking medicines, others do not, and in some cases, others do not receive therapeutic benefits from treatment regardless of dosage. One reason for this inter-individual variation in response is differences in genes that code for proteins important in drug response. This has given rise to the field of Pharmacogenomics (PGx), which seeks to identify biomarkers that predict drug response and apply them in the provision of PGx-guided precision medicine. Following years of repeated Pharmacogenomics (PGx) research, which sought to identify biomarkers…

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“Straight from the Class to the Labour Ward,” Teen Mom Wishes “Not In My Village Campaign” Had Visited Her Village Earlier

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Chiweshe She is Forget Nyamukandenga (19) from Chiweshe, Mashonaland Central. At age 17, in 2022, she was impregnated by a 24-year-old man, a development she says completely changed the course of her life. When she fell pregnant, she was doing her Upper Sixth studies in Mt Darwin and was due to write her examinations in November of the same year. Left with no option, her parents had to send her away to stay with the man responsible for her pregnancy. This period marked the genesis of…

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Free Body Scan or Free Body Scam? Health experts warn against unscrupulous herbal merchants offering Free Body Scan services

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Could it be another version of E-Creator or any of those Ponzi schemes that have hogged the headlines in the past? Zimbabwe is witnessing a surge in Multi-level Marketing (MLM) or Network Marketing companies offering “Free Body Scan” services to convince unsuspecting and desperate health-seeking citizens to buy their herbal products. The collapse of the healthcare sector over the years largely characterised by massive skills flight, shortage of commodities and poor working and living standards for healthcare workers, has left citizens with no option but to seek…

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In Zimbabwe, a Mobile App “One Impact” Has Enhanced Human Rights Outcomes for Persons with TB

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa As a young person who has survived Tuberculosis (TB), Munyaradzi Saruchera (27) from Dzivarasekwa in Harare now wants to make an impact in Zimbabwe’s TB response. He volunteers as a TB champion under the Stop TB Partnership Zimbabwe. His roles encompass getting feedback from the TB community regarding access to services, monitoring TB patients, and following them up to check if they adhere to medications. He also monitors the availability of TB services and commodities such as TB medicines, and screening services. However, collecting data and feedback…

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Zimbabwe Has Programs to Retain Medical Students — and That’s Exactly Why They’re Fleeing

Healthtimes

Gamuchirai Masiyiwa, Global Press Zimbabwe; Prudence Phiri, Global Press Zambia HARARE, ZIMBABWE and LUSAKA, ZAMBIA — At a nursing school in Zambia, many of the students aren’t from Zambia at all. Michael is one of them. “We are,” he says, “over 100 Zimbabweans in a class of 140 students.” More and more Zimbabwean students, like Michael, are pursuing their medical and nursing educations abroad, motivated by better study opportunities, bureaucratic challenges in Zimbabwe, and the rising demand for international health workers in countries like the United Kingdom and United States.…

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The Burden Of Unpaid Care Work On The Mental Health Of Low-earning Women in Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa Every morning, Felistas Makombe (32), from Ruwa has to wake up early and leave for work around 5:00 Am. She works as a cleaner in one of the leading cleaning companies in Zimbabwe. She has to take the earliest bus into town to ensure she gets to work on time and starts cleaning before offices open. With the ongoing road rehabilitation projects in Harare, most roads have been closed and motorists have to either make plans to leave work early or find alternative routes on time lest…

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HIV Status Disclosure during Dating: The Sisyphean Task Facing Young People Living with HIV In Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Chinhoyi For 21-year-old Joseph Mwashipe* from Cherima in Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West, living with HIV as a young person has presented him with a whole set of challenges.  Even though he is studying towards an engineering program, he feels his dating life is currently weighing him down mentally. “Ukangomuudza chete kuti uri HIV positive zvinobva zvadhakwa (The moment I disclose my HIV positive status, the girl disappears from the picture),” says Joseph. “I don’t know whether I should continue disclosing or not because it seems the more…

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Health Resilience Fund Support Enhances Uptake Of Long-Term Family Planning Methods In Matabeleland South

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Gwanda The risk of unplanned pregnancies is very high in the absence of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs) Family planning methods. Women in low-resource settings experience interruptions that may increase the risk of unintended and unplanned pregnancies. In most cases, the poorest couples have the highest fertility, the lowest contraceptive use and the highest unmet need for contraception. In Gwanda, Matabeleland South, women such Florence Kungai (31), from Gwanda who in the past experienced two separate occasions of contraceptive failure due to interruptions in her schedule, now…

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Making Communities Safe For Women: How Zimbabwe’s GBV Program Has Improved Access To Services In El Nino Affected Districts

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa In every emergency, the vulnerability of women and girls increases. In Zimbabwe, the prevailing El Nino-induced drought has amplified the susceptibility of women and girls to numerous forms of abuse. In both Matabeleland North and South provinces, cases of elderly women getting abused sexually have been on the increase. In Gwanda and Umguza Districts where mining is rampant, artisanal miners have been sexually abusing young children, girls,women and even elderly women under the false belief that it gives them fortune in their mining endeavors. In Umguza District,…

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The Daring Five: Zim Female Riders Break Glass Ceiling In Male-Dominated Specimen Transportation Industry

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Shamva She probably has the most beautiful smile in Shamva, but don’t let that fool you. Rosemary Sibanda is a goal-getter, confident, bold and aiming for greater heights in her career as a rider working under Zimbabwe’s Integrated Specimen Transportation System (IST). Being caregivers, women find it difficult to penetrate male-dominated fields, and in most cases, employers prefer males to females for certain roles. Despite the many years of female activism and women empowerment advocacy, the gender gap in the professional world has not been closed.…

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