Africa CDC Trains Diverse Leaders to Close Africa’s Mental Health Treatment Gap
WATCH: Africa CDC Trains New Leaders to Close Africa’s Mental Health Treatment Gap https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RW1XAFxxtVE&t=34s Michael Gwarisa In 2015, Pamhidzai-Violet Togara lost her job. A few months later, her marriage collapsed, pushing her into a severe mental health crisis. “My husband took another wife soon after I lost my job. He told me to take it
Read More
Growing Awareness Slowly Reduces Stigma Around IVF Births in Zimbabwe
Michael Gwarisa For many years, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) has been widely misunderstood and heavily stigmatised in Zimbabwe and across much of Africa. The procedure, which involves fertilising an egg with sperm outside the body in a laboratory before transferring the embryo into the uterus, has often been dismissed as “unnatural” or seen as interfering
Read More
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
Read More
The Damage We Breathe Today: How Lung Injuries Are Quietly Killing Adults Years Later
Watch: Struggling to Breathe: The Silent Burden of COPD & Asthma https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ7zMOLo5C0&t=226s Michael Gwarisa in Cape Town For decades, Evelyn’s smoking and repeated lung infections from tuberculosis (TB) took a toll she barely noticed. What started as a simple cough or occasional shortness of breath gradually turned into a constant struggle for air. Now, even
Read More
Born With It or Brought On by the Air? The Many Faces of Chronic Lung Disease in Children
Michael Gwarisa, Cape Town “I almost quit my job so that I could monitor my child,” says Jacky Phillips, the mother of eight-year-old Lorren Hansen, who lives with severe asthma. Phillips works as a cashier at a fuel station in Atlantis, in South Africa’s Western Cape. She recalls that Lorren’s health challenges began shortly after
Read More
Prescribing Knowledge: Health Literacy Initiative Africa to Launch Movement That Could Transform Health Outcomes
Michael Gwarisa Preventable diseases continue to devastate families across Africa. The impact goes beyond individual households, overstretching healthcare systems and limiting access for those in need. These outcomes are no longer explained solely by medicine shortages or weak infrastructure. Health experts increasingly point to a widespread lack of health literacy as a silent but critical
Read More
Medical Aid Costs in Zimbabwe: Who Offers the Cheapest and Most Expensive Coverage?
Michael Gwarisa In Zimbabwe, the majority of people face significant barriers to accessing health insurance. Over 80% of the population do not have any form of medical coverage, according to official data from the Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFoZ). Only about 10% of Zimbabweans are currently enrolled in medical aid schemes or other
Read More
Where Zimbabwe Stands in the Fight Against HIV
Michael Gwarisa In 1985, Zimbabwe recorded its first confirmed case of HIV, marking the start of a national epidemic. By the mid-1980s, cases were rising rapidly, particularly in Hurungwe District, where formal surveillance began in 1986. By the end of the decade, nearly 10 percent of Zimbabwe’s adult population had already been infected. Nearly four
Read More
Parirenyatwa Hospital Commissions New Heart Bypass Machine, Boosts Open Heart Surgery in Zimbabwe
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiEVMblYRrw Michael Gwarisa In a major step toward improving the quality of cardiac care and reducing turnaround times for open heart surgeries in Zimbabwe, Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals has commissioned a new heart bypass machine, also known as a heart lung machine. The brand new Stöckert S5 heart lung machine was procured by the
Read More
Vaccine Storage Temperature Guidelines: What Health Facilities Must Know
Michael Gwarisa Vaccines are temperature-sensitive biological products, and even small changes in temperature during storage or transport can significantly reduce their safety and effectiveness. While all vaccines are sensitive to heat, some can also be damaged by freezing or exposure to light. To ensure potency throughout the immunisation supply chain, the World Health Organization (WHO)
Read More