ZESN Long-Term Observer Report on Monitoring Responses to COVID-19

By Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) INTRODUCTION During the month of May, a new variant of COVID-19, the Indian Variant B.1.617, was detected in Kwekwe. Subsequent to this, the government imposed a two-week lockdown covering the entire district: the City of Kwekwe, Redcliff town, and the surrounding farming areas in Kwekwe Rural District Council. Measures…

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Cimas Medlabs passes Africa CDC testing audit with highest rating

Cimas Medical Laboratories (Medlabs) Covid-19 Laboratory Testing has been certified and awarded five stars, the highest possible rating, by the Africa Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), resulting in its being included on the Africa CDC’s Trusted Travel Platform. The platform has been established by the Africa Centres for Disease Control (CDC) to harmonise Covid-19 certification…

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IOM and FCDO assisting Government to support Informal Cross-Border Traders to do business safely

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is this week conducting a visit to Chirundu and part of the Supporting Informal Cross-border Traders in Southern Africa to do Business Safely during the COVID-19 Pandemic project. Informal Cross Border Trade which accounts for up to 40% of total intra-SADC trade, with an estimated value of US$17.6 billion…

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SASA! Faith Initiative driving the GBV, HIV eradication agenda

“Whenever the time comes for me to get married, I will join the church because that’s the place where honest, straightforward girls who will be ready to get into holy matrimony are found. There are also isolated cases of gender-based violence (GBV) within churches because of the availability of faith counsellors,” Dylan Sibanda told colleagues…

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WHO validates Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use and issues interim policy recommendations

World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday 1 June 2021 validated the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving countries, funders, procuring agencies and communities the assurance that it meets international standards for safety, efficacy and manufacturing. The vaccine is produced by the Beijing-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac. “The world desperately needs multiple COVID-19 vaccines to address…

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Allowing water shortages is ridiculous: CWA

By Clemence Muchedzi   Community Water Alliance (CWA) – an organization that advocates water governance issues said allowing rampant water shortages on the part of responsible authorities in the country is ridiculous and should be a thing of the past. The sentiments come following complaints by residents of Mufakose over water shortages in the community….

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House Foreign Affairs Committee Passes Bass Bill To Increase Diversity Within State Department

Yesterday, the House Foreign Affairs Committee voted to pass the Represent America Abroad Act of 2021, to ensure that the U.S. Foreign Service reflects the rich composition of the American citizenry. The legislation establishes a program to identify, attract and welcome diverse mid-career professionals into the Foreign Service. “This bill shall ensure that all levels…

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MSF: UN member states must commit to increasing access to drugs and tests for people with cryptococcal meningitis

MSF, others launch strategic framework to end deaths from HIV-related cryptococcal meningitis by 2030 In advance of an upcoming United Nations High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and its global partners released a strategic framework outlining the actions countries need to take to end deaths from cryptococcal meningitis (CM) by 2030….

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Novartis reaches milestone delivery of 1 billion courses of antimalarial treatment

Novartis continues to invest in research and development for next-generation antimalarials to combat the threat of artemisinin resistance Novartis (www.Novartis.com) has delivered 1 billion courses of antimalarial treatment, including 430 million pediatric treatments, largely at no profit since 1999; With other innovations, the Novartis artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) contributed to reduce malaria deaths by nearly…

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Merck Foundation marks “World Hypertension Day 2021”

Today, Merck Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Merck KGaA Germany marks World Hypertension Day 2021 in partnership with African First Ladies, Ministries of Health, Medical Societies and Academia, through their long-term commitment towards building Cardiovascular, Diabetes, and Endocrinology care capacity in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.   Senator, Dr. Rasha Kelej, CEO of Merck Foundation…

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Key Affected Population Model worthwhile in addressing HIV, SGBV among sex workers

The Key Affected Population Model being implemented by the National AIDS Council (NAC) is reaping huge dividends in as far as engaging sex workers in responding to HIV and sexual gender-based violence (SGBV) is concerned. With the impacts of the COVID-19-induced lockdown wreaking economic havoc among the clientele of sex workers, the situation has gone…

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Tablet market gets shot in the arm from pandemic

By Chris Donkin Global tablet shipments increased rapidly year-on-year in Q1, with the rate of growth estimated at its highest since 2013 as demand for devices to support remote working during the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic boosted sales. Reports from Canalys and IDC both pointed to “outstanding growth” in Q1, which the former estimated as increasing…

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Food Relief Hampers: Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) reaches out to communities

Cognisant of the fact that following COVID-19-induced hardships, most families in Zimbabwe are facing hunger and starvation, the Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) is extending its giving hand by distributing food hampers to deserving families across the country.   Speaking during the food distribution exercise in Chitungwiza on Monday 3 May 2021, Mr Can…

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Solving the digital health divide in Africa through scaled up public-private support for digital innovation

This was the consensus amongst high level global and African health experts who came together for a recent online discussion Digital innovation is vital for the advancement of African economies and their health services, but to make this possible certain large stumbling blocks need to be removed. This was the consensus amongst high-level global and…

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Invest in research to promote the manufacture of vaccines

By Bernard Langat What you need to know: The roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines, however, brings hope to the fight against the pandemic. Africa should not solely rely on donations and the importation of essential medical supplies. The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic remain formidable. The pandemic embodies the greatest threat to global public health and economies…

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Africanews, part of the Euronews group, celebrates its fifth anniversary

DStv’s Africanews channel is celebrating its fifth anniversary, marking the event with special coverage of events in Africa over the past five years. The coverage also focuses on how the continent is trying to meet the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as looking at the hopes and aspirations of people across Africa for…

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Ecosure continuously re-imagining service delivery for sustainable development

From its inception in 2014, Ecosure is continuously innovating as part of its drive towards re-imagining service delivery for sustainable development. Speaking during the Ecosure awards ceremony held to honour outstanding funeral service providers (FSPs) at the Celebration Centre in Harare today, Mr Godwin Mashiri, the Head of Cassava Fintech International’s Mobile Insurance Business who…

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Cyprus talks start at UN in Geneva

5+1 Cyprus talks start at UN in Geneva: UN chief convenes informal talks with ‘realistic’ frame to negotiate a lasting settlement in Cyprus   By Peter Kenny in Geneva An informal meeting on Cyprus began in Geneva Tuesday with the UN chief seeking “common ground” between the parties for the resumption of negotiations on a…

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UNICEF Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 response gets US$1 million boost from Japan

The Government of Japan has allocated over a million US dollars in additional support to UNICEF Zimbabwe’s COVID-19 response through responsive and preventive care interventions to vulnerable children and women across multiple sectors including health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, GBV, and child protection and education. The project will be implemented in 32 districts across the country which…

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Government of Japan commits US$ 1.3 million to help save lives of pregnant women in Zimbabwe

The Government of Japan and the United Nations Population Fund, the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency, have signed a US$ 1,3 million partnership grant in a project that will help save the lives of pregnant women in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is currently experiencing a humanitarian crisis caused by multiple factors, including recurring droughts and…

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Climate Crisis: More Than 700m Children Live in High-Risk Countries

An estimated 710 million children live in the 45 countries that are at the highest risk of suffering the impact of climate change, Save the Children warned yesterday. Floods, droughts, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events will have an especially deep impact on vulnerable children and their families. Children in these countries will for example…

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The SUCCEED Programme offering interventions for people with psychosis in Africa

The SUCCEED programme is co-producing the design and evaluation of community-based interventions for people with psychosis in Africa. This came into being after it was established that people with psychosocial disabilities are best able to define their own needs. Psychologist, Epiphany Munetsi said the SUCCEED Programme aims to build evidence on “What Works” for psychosocial disabilities…

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Turkish Diyanet Foundation donates food hampers, boreholes to Zimbabwean communities

During this month of Ramadan, Turkey, through the Turkish Diyanet Foundation is donating food hampers and highly-mechanized, state-of-the-art boreholes to the needy people in various communities in Zimbabwe.   During the official opening of one of the more than 30 boreholes donated around the country from February 2021 to date in the Chihwiti area of…

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Drivers, conductors bear brunt of COVID-19-induced ban on kombis: ZUDAC

Mr. Fradreck Maguramhinga, the President of the Zimbabwe Union of Drivers and Conductors (ZUDAC) has bemoaned the hardships being endured by drivers and conductors of commuter omnibuses owing to their ban by the government as a temporary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19. ZUDAC is the trade union for truck, bus, kombi, and taxi…

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Zimbabwe wants and deserves a robust opposition

Opposition leaders should act to attain power and not sit on their laurels

By Tinashe Eric Muzamhindo A Strategic Opposition should never be a crybaby but should move away from the dependency syndrome type of politics. Instead, they should transform themselves from activism into statesmanship. What the local opposition should understand is that they are dealing with a liberation movement that is backed by security apparatus – CIOs,…

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Let’s address the menace of land barons in Harare South: Tongai Mnangagwa

Honourable Tongai Mnangagwa, the Member of the National Assembly for Harare South has said it is incumbent on stakeholders to join forces in addressing the menace of land barons in the constituency. Hon Mnangagwa made the remarks on his meet-the-people meeting at the Mbudzi complex in Harare on Friday. “The Harare South Constituency is one…

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Africa: Climate Mapping Can Point to Danger Spots Where New Pest Threatens Africa’s Cycads

Cycads, the world’s oldest seed-producing plants, are facing extinction. Africa is home to a variety of cycad species and South Africa is regarded as a global hotspot for cycad diversity. One of the most prominent cycad taxa, the genus Encephalartos, is endemic to Africa and is categorised as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. This…

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AFD, The GovLab, and Expertise France Announce Awardees for #Data4COVID19 Africa Challenge

On April 6, 2021, l’Agence française de développement (AFD), Expertise France, and The GovLab announced the awardees of the #Data4COVID19 Africa Challenge, following a call for innovative proposals that ran from December 15, 2020, through February 5, 2021. The challenge seeks to address the social, economic, and health challenges resulting from COVID-19 in Africa through…

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IOM scales up plans to address the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on the over 200 000 returning migrants

Since the onset of the COVID-19 in March 2020, approximately 200 000 migrants have returned to Zimbabwe. These migrants have returned to the very communities which led them to look for a better life elsewhere and have no livelihood opportunities to sustain their return and overall socio-economic stability. In response, IOM Zimbabwe is scaling up…

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Facebook, WHO launch campaign against COVID-19 misinformation

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Facebook (www.Facebook.com) has been working to connect people to accurate information and reduce misinformation on its platforms. Last month it announced the biggest worldwide campaign (https://bit.ly/3cGJamf) to promote authoritative information about Covid-19 vaccines – working to remove false vaccine claims, reduce the distribution of inaccurate health information, and inform people about…

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The Future Of Healthcare Design – Outside The Point Of Care

By Bertalan Meskó, MD, PhD When talking about the future of healthcare, we also have to talk about the future designs of the institutions providing medical services. However, with digital health technologies that democratise access to care, the point of care will not be limited to healthcare institutions. It will rather be split into two;…

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Public Health Lock-down Order: Further Relaxation of Lock-down

By Veritas On the 16th March, the Cabinet agreed to further relaxations in the national lock-down.  According to the post-Cabinet press briefing: “Cabinet … agreed that all sporting activities will now resume and observe Standard Operating Procedures.  Restaurants are now allowed to open for sit-ins at 50% sitting capacity, under strict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines.  Those found breaking…

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Zimbabwe succeeded in bending AIDS epidemic trajectory: Global AIDS Monitoring Report

The Global AIDS Monitoring Report has shown that Zimbabwe has dramatically succeeded in bending the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic, and achieved all the three 90s fast-track targets. This was revealed yesterday by Dr. Bernard Madzima, the Chief Executive Officer of the National AIDS Council (NAC) at a meeting held at the NAC headquarters to…

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GBV cases double during the COVID-19 pandemic: Musasa Project

The Musasa Project recorded a two-fold increase in gender-based violence (GBV) cases between 2019 and 2020, the organisation’s advocacy and communication officer, Rotina Mafume-Musara has said. Mafume-Musara was addressing journalists at the two-day community reporting workshop organised by the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ) that kicked off in Harare yesterday. Musasa offers among other services,…

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