Tag: NTDs

Africa Needs to Strengthen Disease Surveillance and Innovation to Address Re-emerging Infectious Diseases- Dr Nyirenda

Michael Gwarisa

The world is slowly recovering from the ravaging effects of COVID-19 which lasted close to three years before the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that it was no longer a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). According to WHO data, globally, as of 2 August 2023, an estimated 6,953,743 COVID-19 deaths and 768,983,095 confirmed cases of COVID-19 had been reported to WHO. By Michael Gwarisa While the risk of COVID-19 has subsided, and the rest of the world seems to be moving forward, Africa is experiencing a new wave…

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Multi-stakeholder approach key in NTD elimination

Healthtimes

By Dr Kennedy Mubaiwa, Higherlife Foundation CEO Tadiwa, an 11-year-old Grade six student in rural Zimbabwe has missed school for more than a week. She has a distended stomach, nausea, pain, and dizziness. Tadiwa is well known for playing in a nearby stream, the only water source for her village. Today Tadiwa visited the clinic, where she was diagnosed with intestinal worms otherwise known as soil-transmitted helminths (STH) and treatment was started immediately. Intestinal worms are one of the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) affecting more than 1 billion children worldwide.…

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WHO Calls For Equitable Health Services For All To End NTDs

Michael Gwarisa

TO mark World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day (WNTDD) , the World Health Organization (WHO) is calling on everyone, to rally to confront inequalities that characterize NTDs and  ensure that the poorest and marginalized communities who are mostly affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) receive the health services they need. HealthTimes Reporter In his message for World NTD day, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus   said, “the COVID-19 pandemic has thrust millions of people deeper into poverty and affected those who already have limited access to health services.” He urged the global…

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#BREAKING: Worrisome New Leprosy Cases Recorded In Zimbabwe

Michael Gwarisa

ZIMBABWE recorded a worrisome sharp increase in new leprosy cases in 2020 with majority of cases having been recorded in Binga, Matabelenad North (Mat North), prompting government to activate and intensify Leprosy diagnosis and detection in other parts of the country that used to be Leprosy Hotspots. By Michael Gwarisa Traditional leprosy hotspots in Zimbabwe include Mat South (Gwanda and Bulimia), Mat North (Hwange and Binga), Mashonaland West (Makonde and Rafingora and farming areas around Rafingora), Zvimba (Hurungwe and Kariba). Masvingo (Chiredzi South in the Chikombedzi), Manicaland (Buhera and Chipinge),…

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Breaking the Cycle of Neglect: New Report Highlights the Economic Benefits of Eliminating NTDs in Africa

Michael Gwarisa

More than 1.7bn people require treatment for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) worldwide, with over 40% of the burden in Africa. Data indicate that reducing the illness and early death associated with NTDs would increase adults’ current and future economic productivity. Treating and preventing NTDs at a large scale could greatly increase the GDPs of countries that are currently burdened by disease.  OVER 560 million people across Africa remain at risk of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) – a group of parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases, such as river blindness and intestinal…

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Call To Raise Awareness On Neglected Tropical Diseases

Healthtimes

HEALTH and Climate Change advocates and gurus are of the notion that awareness raising from as early as primary school ages on Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) is necessary to reduce their burden in Zimbabwe. By Kudakwashe Pembere With the nation launching the Zimbabwe School Health Policy in 2018, experts feel awareness is important so that people can prevent themselves from these NTDs. In separate interviews with these interested parties on the sidelines of Global Shapers Harare NTD Day Commemorations, it emerged that lack of awareness is derailing efforts made in…

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END Fund Launches Deworming Innovation Fund in Zimbabwe

Healthtimes

HARARE, ZIMBABWE, (January 30, 2020) -In recognition of the first-ever World NTD Day, the END Fund is bringing together private and public sector stakeholders to imagine a world free from diseases caused by parasitic worms that have held back human progress for millennia. Today, the END Fund announces its Audacious project – the Deworming Innovation Fund – in four strategic countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. In April 2019, The Audacious Project announced its support of the END Fund and seven other organizations. The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding…

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Mash West Health Workers Get Sleeping Sickness Control Training

Healthtimes

THE Health and Child Care Ministry is currently training community health workers in Hurungwe and Kariba on how to manage sleeping sickness. By Kuda Pembere Amid indications of misdiagnosis of this condition also known as human African trypanomiasis, with technical support of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the ministry found it necessary to bridge the knowledge gap. The training workshop which began on Monday ends on Friday. “We want to develop and capacitate human African trypanomiasis health facilities as well as strengthening the diagnosis and treatment of the disease at…

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Neglected Tropical Diseases Resurface in Modern Day Zimbabwe…55 Districts Under Siege

NewsRoom

MAJORITY of Zimbabweans who grew up in communal areas or even those who were born in farming communities when Zimbabwe’s commercial farming was still at its peak should be familiar with diseases such as Bilharzia, worms and Trachoma. By Michael Gwarisa Owing to efforts from government and the donor community, steps to mitigate the spread of such diseases have been put in place trough interventions such as mass drug administrations, vaccinations, dispensing of oral tablets to get rid of gut worms, fumigating stagnant water ponds amongst a host of other…

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