Tag: Bilharzia

Mass Drug Administration Boosts Health Outcomes and School Attendance For Zimbabwe School Children

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Nyazura  Children at St Peters Tokoyo primary school, about 25 Kilometers from Nyazura Growth point in Makoni District, Manicaland province, have braced the chilly weather to queue for the Bilharzia and Intestinal worms medications being administered under the nationwide Mass Drug Administration (MDA) program. At Tokoyo Primary school and the nearby clinic, health workers from the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) are administering Praziquantel, treatment for Schistosomiasis or Bilharzia. According to a 2021 Community-Based Mapping, Makoni District has an double endemicity of  Schistosomiasis and…

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Manicaland Targets Over 200 Wards In Mass Drug Administration For Bilharzia and Intestinal Worms

Michael Gwarisa

By Michael Gwarisa in Mutare An estimated 85 percent of coverage is targeted by the Mass Drug Administration (MDA) for Schistosomiasis (Bilharzia) and Soil-transmitted helminthiases (Intestinal Worms) underway in Manicaland province. The MDA which has kicked off in several districts across the country is running from 14 to 21 October 2024 and is targeting children aged 2 to 14 years in selected areas. Data from a 2021 Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) Community-Based Mapping exercise conducted by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) shows that approximately 252 wards in…

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Bilharzia in Zimbabwe wears a female face…Risk of HIV Infection three times higher in women with Bilharzia

Michael Gwarisa

It’s an early Monday morning, and Portia Guta (35), from Chibondo Village in Shamva District, Mashonaland Central Province, has just learned that she tested positive for Schistosomiasis or Bilharzia. Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, is an infection of the urinary tract or bowels, caused by Schistosoma (blood fluke), a flatworm parasite. By Michael Gwrisa in Shamva District Portia was among the participants who got screened for Schistosomiasis during a Pilot Study that was conducted to ascertain the magnitude of Schistosomiasis in the Shamva District. The Pilot project also assessed…

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Zimbabwe-China Partnership Launches Pilot Project To Eliminate Bilharzia

Michael Gwarisa

A new China-Zimbabwe cooperation pilot project for the control and elimination of Bilharzia (schistosomiasis) could fast-track Zimbabwe’s efforts to eliminate the disease, HealthTimes has learned. By Michael Gwarisa in Shamva The project follows the successful signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which has seen Zimbabwe become the first country on the continent to benefit from the China-Africa Corporation Initiative for the elimination of Schistosomiasis. The study has been jointly initiated by the Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC), the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) in Zimbabwe, and…

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Zimbabwe Commences Nationwide Deworming Exercise, 300 000 Targeted For free Bilharzia Treatment in Shamva and Mount Darwin

Michael Gwarisa

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care (MoHCC) with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Higherlife Foundation have kick-started the National Mass Treatment for bilharzia and intestinal worms as a follow-up to the healthcare worker’s Mass Drug Administration (MDA) training exercise which concluded last week in Shamva and Mount Darwin. By Michael Gwarisa The National Mass Treatment exercise started in Mashonaland Central Province this week in (Shamva and Mount Darwin). WHO started their support visit at Chitse Clinic in Mt Darwin where WHO is providing on the job…

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