Health
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Action needed for UN commitments on TB testing, treatment: MSF
OWN CORRESPONDENT NEW YORK/GENEVA, SEPTEMBER 22, 2023—The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) welcomes leaders’ signing of a political declaration today on tuberculosis (TB) during the United Nations High-Level Meeting (HLM) on TB. In this declaration, world leaders committed to ramp up TB testing, treatment, and prevention efforts—for both adults and…
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WHO appoints Chido Mpemba to its Social Connection Commission
Writes Reginald Tapfumanei Chido Mpemba, who currently serves as the youngest diplomat in the African Union Chairperson’s Cabinet, has been appointed as a Commissioner and co-chair of the Social Connection Commission by the World Health Organization (WHO) The Commission will have its Secretariat housed at the WHO headquarters in Geneva Switzerland, running under a three-year…
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Open letter to President Emmerson Mnangagwa
Writes Itai Rusike (Executive Director of Community Working Group on Health) Now that the elections are over, the people of Zimbabwe expect the fulfilment of the election manifesto, in which you promised massive improvement in health infrastructure; more health personnel; accessible and affordable medicines; free medical care for cancer patients; at least one hospital per…
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Power sharing resolves Zimbabwe’s political logjam
Writes Linda Tsungirirai Masarira (LEAD President) As a political party that was involved in the Zimbabwean 2023 elections, LEAD proposes that since the elections stand disputed the only way forward is an all-inclusive power-sharing arrangement. The LEAD proposed Power-sharing arrangement aims to reduce the risk of continued political polarisation and the possibility of civil conflict…
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EU Election Observation Mission pours cold water on Zimbabwe’s elections
“The legal framework could provide an adequate basis to conduct elections in line with international standards espoused by Zimbabwe, if implemented properly. However, the EU Election Observation Mission (EU EOM) concludes that curtailed rights and lack of level playing field led to an environment that was not always conducive to voters making a free and…
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MSF refuses to sign ViiV’s NDA for access to lifesaving HIV prevention drug
CORRESPONDENT NEW YORK/GENEVA, AUGUST 17, 2023—Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is asking today for the removal of last-minute terms that ViiV Healthcare has added to an agreement to procure the injectable HIV prevention drug long-acting cabotegravir (CAB-LA) for use in MSF projects. These unacceptable conditions include a confidentiality clause akin to a Non-Disclosure Agreement…
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Depression a silent killer
Writes Rumbidzai Mubirira A feeling of sadness and loss of interest in normal activities results in depression. Unnoticed, many people slipped into depression. Due to ignorance and lack of information, depression has been part of us for a long time, with people taking the symptoms as normal, resulting in a number of lives being lost.…
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IAS welcomes Jeanne Marrazzo as new Director of NIAID
IAS – the International AIDS Society – welcomes the appointment of Jeanne Marrazzo as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr Marrazzo, currently Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is recognized worldwide for her…
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UNICEF, WHO call for supportive workplaces for breastfeeding female workers
Writes Marlvin Ngiza The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO) have challenged governments, civil society organisations, and the private sector across the globe to up the game in ensuring the establishment of a supportive breastfeeding environment for all working mothers in the quest to reach the global target of 70 percent…
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China, Zimbabwe collaborate on schistosomiasis elimination
After more than 70 years of fighting against schistosomiasis, China has eliminated the prevalence of schistosomiasis to the lowest level and has accumulated rich experience in the prevention and control of the disease and will use its experience to contribute to the prevention and control of schistosomiasis in Zimbabwe. This came up yesterday at the…
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WHO calls for swift response against Hepatitis
Writes Marlvin Ngiza World Health Organisation (WHO) has bemoaned poor liver health awareness campaigns, and poor levels of treatment and care for people with hepatitis in the world while calling for urgent action by countries to suppress the silent infection that has been claiming more than a million lives each year globally. This comes as…
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WHO calls for massive health investments
Writes Marlvin Ngiza The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called upon nations to prioritize investing into the health sector for more equitable and prosperous societies and economies. This was said by WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus, during a press briefing on global health issues. In his remarks, Ghebreyesus said that low-income countries were failing to rebound…
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My Food is African! Campaign promotes consumption of traditional Zimbabwean foodstuffs
Under the auspices of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), the Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Zimbabwe is undertaking a campaign in Zimbabwe to raise awareness and consciousness on the farming, and consumption of traditional Zimbabwean food under the banner of the My Food is African! Campaign. In Zimbabwe, the campaign is…
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Diabetes awareness is my duty, yours too…
Writes Rumbidzai Mubirira September is a dark month for me. The 21st day floods me with tears. The heartache is unbearable, as I remember that day. They say time heals, and it has failed to do that for me. September 2023 marks a decade after my father succumbed to diabetes mellitus Type 2. I was…
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MSF: New medicine deal is a short-term solution for people with TB
J&J must end its patent monopoly on bedaquiline so generic versions of this lifesaving drug can be widely produced Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility announcement yesterday of a deal with US pharmaceutical corporation Johnson & Johnson (J&J) to provide access to affordable generic versions of lifesaving tuberculosis (TB) drug bedaquiline will only offer a…
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Councillor donates to volunteer street cleaners
Staff Reporter Sitting Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) councilor for Dzivarasekwa Ward 40, Stephen Dhliwayo, who is also the party’s candidate for the Ward 39 seat, this Tuesday donated an assortment of goodies to volunteer street cleaners in the area under the Chenesa Harare project. At least one hundred volunteers from across the political divide…
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ZEC challenged to create a conducive electoral environment for PWDs
Writes Marlvin Ngiza The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has been encouraged to make the election environment conducive for people with disabilities by ensuring easy accessibility of polling stations and the availability of disaggregated data for full-fair participation of the group. In an interview with Spiked Online Media, Disability Reform Coalition Chairperson Masimba Kuchera said that there…
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Presidential candidate Busha to address drug abuse and trafficking
Writes Lloyd Rabaya As Zimbabwe is battling drug abuse, presidential candidate Joseph Makamba Busha has highlighted that his party, Freezim Congress, will implement stringent measures to reduce the vice. This came out at a candidates launch and introduction press conference held yesterday in Harare. Drug abuse is a thorn in the flesh in the country,…
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WHO, multilateral development banks launch Climate Health Fund
Own Correspondent Paris, France – In a landmark development aimed at investing in and strengthening essential, climate, and crisis-resilient primary health care (PHC) services in the global south, three multilateral development banks have joined with WHO to launch a new Health Investment Platform. The Platform launched during the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact…
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Aron Vico, Waverley Blankets And Plastic Boss Acquitted Of Fraud
Writes Desire Tshuma Waverly Blankets and Plastics boss, Mr Aron Vico has been acquitted of fraud charges which two aunts, Amanda Berkowitz and Belynda Halfon had accused him of, over the ownership of the company. Harare regional magistrate Taurai Manuwere upheld an application for exception and acquitted Vico of the fraud charges that his aunts…