Health
read all interesting health stories on zimbabwe news spiked. Newsdzezimbabwe health is updated every day and is very reliable.
The state of the nation address reveals a leader hoping for the better
By Farai Chirimumimba As Emmerson Mnangagwa navigate the last 8 months of his predecessor, Mr Robert Mugabe, he gave himself a “damning” report card on Wednesday — and a to-do list before the 2018 harmonised elections slotted for July/August. Delivering his maiden State of the Nation address in Harare, Mnangagwa was not expected to give…
Africa urged to harness youth demographic dividend
By Byron Mutingwende Africa has a youth bulge and there is need for the continent to harness the demographic dividend so as to guard against future potential socio-economic crisis and disharmony, it has emerged. The sentiments were expressed on 20 December 2017 on the occasion of the official signing of a memorandum of…
Multi-sectorial partnerships vital in resilience building for girl empowerment
By Byron Mutingwende Mazvita Jacob (not real name) relives the emotional experiences of the day she was raped by her uncle last year when she was 17 years old. When left alone, she cries and says she sees visions of the perpetrator coming to abuse her all over again. Her auntie Patience says…
Sport serves as a safe zone for vulnerable girls
By Byron Mutingwende The girl child is the most vulnerable in the community due to a multiplicity of factors, chief among them gender based violence. In an effort to create safe zones for the girl child against this menace, the Zimbabwe Community Health Intervention Research (ZICHIRe) behaviour change project has introduced sporting activities targeting…
CSOs should develop local initiatives for resilience building: ZICHIRe
By Byron Mutingwende and Patricia Mashiri In a bid to shun donor dependence and create home grown interventions that build resilience among communities, the Zimbabwe Community Health Intervention Research project (ZiCHIRe) has extended a giving hand to an orphanage in Marondera. In his address while handing over the donation of an assortment of goods sourced…
Grassroots women mothers of children with disability grapple with adverse effects of climate change
By Byron Mutingwende The Global Community is living no stone unturned in their endeavour to develop sustainable community responsive strategies to ensure adaptability and resilience in the wake of extreme hunger and severe poverty. Zimbabwe Parents of the Handicapped Children joined the Global Community in making frantic efforts to ensure grassroots women particularly mothers…
Economist calls for cut in wasteful recurrent expenditures in health
By Byron Mutingwende Renowned economist, Prosper Chitambara has said the 2018 National Budget contains pragmatic measures to cut unproductive and wasteful recurrent expenditures while scaling up social and capital expenditures, a situation that provides a solid foundation for medium term development if implemented. Chitambara was analysing the health implications of the 2018 National…
Women overcome poverty through food and nutrition security programmes
Women overcome poverty through food and nutrition security programmes By Byron Mutingwende Ward 9 and 19 of Chipinge District are role models of successful small-scale farming under the land reform programme. The Food and Nutrition Security Committee (FNSC) initiated programmes saw women in the wards running successful banana, cassava, poultry, dairy and value…
Afreximbank and EBE Sign Agreement for $500 Million Export Support Scheme
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), today in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, entered into an agreement with the Export Development Bank of Egypt (EBE) to collaborate on a $500 million scheme aimed at supporting exports and investments by Egyptian businesses to other African countries. The Export Credit Support Scheme (ECSS), signed by Afreximbank and EBE on…
Embassy of Ireland donates to Sista2Sista
By Byron Mutingwende The donation of goods by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in partnership with the Zimbabwe Community Health Intervention Research (ZICHIRe) that were sourced from the Embassy of Ireland will go a long way in uplifting the lives of girls and young women from Dzivarasekwa. Among the donated goods were…
MSF launches multimedia campaign to fight HIV stigma in DRC
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in collaboration with National Multisectoral Program against AIDS (PNMLS), the Jeunesse Espoire (Youth Hope) Association, the Congolese Union of People Living with HIV Organizations (UCOP+), the Congolese Associations Network Together against HIV / AIDS (RACOJ) and the National Network of Organizations of Assisi Community Support People Living with HIV groups (RNOAC_GS / PLWHA) launches the #ZWA NGA BIEN (Look at…
Message of hope dominates on World AIDS Day commemoration
By Byron Mutingwende As the world commemorates the World Aids Day (WAD) today, a number of organisations have expressed their solidarity with those living with the disease and are hopeful that solutions to the pandemic will be achieved in the future. The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has said it stands in…
Standardise and decentralise psychiatric assessment reports: Stakeholders urged
By Byron Mutingwende Girls and women with mental disability are highly vulnerable to sexual violence and encounter enormous obstacles which impede easy access to post gender based violence services such as health, justice, counselling and shelter. As a result, stakeholders called for standardising and decentralisation of psychiatric assessment reports. Nobuhle Moyo, the Project Officer…
Behaviour change vital in fighting mosquitoes: Manjoro
By Thabani Dube As over 440 people die of malaria Social and Behaviour change communication (SBCC) is an integral strategy for malaria prevention and elimination. SBCC takes into account the way people conduct their day to day businesses and how they affect their environment has a great impact in the fight against malaria, says a…
Is it carnage as Mnangagwa becomes Zimbabwe’s third president?
By Farai Chirimumimba Zimbabweans witnessed the inauguration of their third president, Emmerson Mnagagwa. The interim president who is to rule for about eight months before general elections in July or August 2018 vows to rebuild Zimbabwe in a bleak inaugural address after taking his oath of office on 24 November. Cde Mnangagwa summed up the…
Women and girls are givers of life – they need protection and respect
By Byron Mutingwende “In Shona they say “Musha Mukadzi” loosely translated to: The home is the woman. In Ibbo language they say “Nneka” meaning Mother is Supreme. All these narratives and proverbs are meant to debunk the widely held notion that the African culture is predominantly male-chauvinist,” says sociologist John Maramwira. From 25…
Specific laws needed to combat healthcare fraud
Representatives of medical aid societies, pharmacists, hospitals, doctors, laboratories, the legal sector and other stakeholders from across the country on Thursday lamented the lack of specific laws to deal with healthcare fraud when they came together at the Healthcare Fraud Indaba in Harare. In discussions and presentations it was noted that medical aid societies were…
Collaborate in ending healthcare fraud: Stakeholders urged
There is need for an all-stakeholder collaboration in fighting fraud rampant in the healthcare sector, it has emerged. In her welcome remarks at the Healthcare Fraud Indaba held in Harare, Shylet Sanyanga, the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Healthcare Funders of Zimbabwe (AHFOZ) said fraud is best addressed when stakeholders collaborate in fighting…
Healthy eating keeps diabetes at bay
By Byron Mutingwende A healthy, nutritious diet with minimised consumption of starch-rich foodstuffs will keep diabetes at bay, Dr. John Mangwiro, the President of the Zimbabwe Diabetic Association (ZDA) has said. Mangwiro made the remarks during the commemoration of the World Diabetes Day held in the Harare Central Business District on 14 November…
Lions Club International offers free diabetes testing and screening for all
By Patricia Mashiri The Lions Clubs International, in partnership with Zimbabwe Diabetic Association has embarked on a free diabetic screening and testing campaign across the country and beyond boarders. Diabetes is a disease that occurs when one’s blood glucose, also called blood sugar, is too high. Blood glucose will be the main source of energy…
Prioritise health resource allocation: govt told
By Thabani Dube Harare The trend of below-target funding from the national budget to the social sectors, including to health, renders tje sectors over-reliant on donors and risks the long term sustainability of programmes, a UN country boss has said. Acting UN Resident Coordinator, who is also UNICEF Country Representative, Dr Mohamed Ayoya, on 9…
A resilient health system promotes sustainable development
By Byron Mutingwende and Patricia Mashiri In Mbare, Martha Chimwe (not real name) is afraid the 2008-9 cholera outbreak that claimed four of her family members in one week had returned to kill her grandson (nine) who has a running stomach. Martha’s fears are compounded by the reality that in Matapi Flats – her home…
PPC imaginarium competition to take place for first time in Zimbabwe
By Wallace Mawire The PPC Imaginarium, a competition originating from neighbouring South Africa will take place in Zimbabwe for the first time, according to a National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) spokesperson. According to the spokesperson, the PPC Imaginarium is a modern art and design competition whose main thrust is to support emerging artists and designers…
FBDGs to promote healthy and nutritious diet in Zimbabwe
By Byron Mutingwende Zimbabwe is in the process of developing Food Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDGs) to promote consumption of healthy and nutritious diet. Monica Muti, the Nutrition Intervention Manager in the Ministry of Health and Child Care said the process is being led by the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture Mechanisation and Irrigation…
MSF Secures Generic Hepatitis C Treatment at lower price
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced this week it can now purchase generic hepatitis C medicines for as low as $1.40 per day, or $120 per 12-week treatment course, for two key medicines used to treat and cure this disease, sofosbuvir and daclatasvir. This dramatic price reduction—which will benefit…
Work towards ending all forms of malnutrition: Stakeholders urged
By Byron Mutingwende Stakeholders have reiterated the call to end malnutrition in all its forms in line with the Sustainable Development Goals. This emerged at the Zimbabwe Nutrition Association (ZimNA) inaugural conference held at Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare. The conference was a platform for sharing ideas and experiences as a way of…
Children at the receiving end of abuse worldwide
By Byron Mutingwende Eight-year-old Tambudzai Mashereni (not real name) struggled to carry a 20-litre bucket of water that her stepmother put on her head. The borehole is a kilometre away. She just found herself in that painful situation and knew from the treatment that the woman who made her do back-breaking work was not her…
TaLI, Econet collaborate to empower the girl child
Tag a Life International (TaLI) with the support of Econet Zimbabwe and that of Elevate this past Saturday the 28th of October 2017 launched its first ever Girls and Young Women’s Annual Conference which is set to empower girls from across the country with exposure opportunities, knowledge of their rights, to share their experiences, learn…
Malaria claims 42 deaths in Harare
Thabani Dube Harare At least, 42 people have died due to malaria and 2,821 confirmed cases recorded in Harare since the beginning of 2017, Spiked can reveal. City of Harare, Director of Health Services, Dr Prosper Chonzi confirmed that the city this year recorded a sharp increase in both malaria cases and deaths due to…
ARTUZ “Pockets Out” campaign persists
The non-violent protest by rural teachers and the generality of ordinary citizens who are reeling under the gruesome effects of the man-made economic meltdown in Zimbabwe will enter its third edition this Friday, 27 October 2017. Dubbed #PocketsOut, #HomwePanze, #IzikhwamaPandle, the protest aims to mobilize citizens who are suffering due to the incessant cash crisis…
Promotion of human rights a key guiding principle of UN
By Byron Mutingwende The promotion and protection of human rights is one of the key purposes and guiding principles of the United Nations (UN), Elasto Mugwadi, the Chairperson of the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission (ZHRC) has said. Mugwadi made the remarks at the commemoration of the UN Day held at the World Health…
Gaps in SRHR and social inequalities hinder economic growth
By Byron Mutingwende Kudzai Moyo (not real name) was born into a polygamous family to parents who are staunch members of the Johane Marange Apostolic Church in Bocha, Manicaland Province. Kudzai, like any other girl in her community started primary education at the local Mafararikwa School. Her father, a bearded middle-aged man had…
Medical insurance regulator should be independent: Stakeholders
By Byron Mutingwende Stakeholders have called for the setting up of an independent medical insurance regulator in order to close the gaps in the current system. That emerged at the Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZiMA) Workshop held on 17 October 2017 at the Rainbow Towers Hotel in Harare. “The proposed regulatory authority, provided…
Use of radiation sciences improves cancer management
By Byron Mutingwende Zimbabwe is in the process of capacitating radiotherapists with a view of enhancing the use of radiation sciences to improve the management of cancer. Zimbabwe, through the Ministry of Health and Childcare has roped in the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) experts from South Africa for a partnership in all activities related…
Constant screening and check-ups for cancer vital: people urged
By Simbarashe Manhango Constant medical check ups and screening has been cited as the panacea in dealing with the growing cancer mortalities, a health expert has said. This comes at the backdrop of a report by the health ministry which estimates that a general population of 30 000 people around the country were suspected of…
Albinism demystified
By Byron Mutingwende For Sharon Gumbi, living up to the age of 30 is a miracle. Her biological mother was banished from home by her father soon after her birth. Sharon had to live with her grandparents in rural Filabusi, Matebeleland South Province until the age of 13. “My grandparents became my foster…
UN spearheading resilience uptake in Masvingo
By Byron Mutingwende Resilience science involves bringing together multiple strategies targeting a variety of stakeholders who are affected differently by the shocks that arise out of the negative effects of climate change. True to its modus operandi, the United Nations (UN) Zimbabwe team toured Masvingo Province to ensure communities embrace this phenomenon. To…
No death, no injury at workplace, government says
The government is committed to ensuring occupational safety and health at the workplace it has emerged. Speaking at a meeting held under the theme, “reinforce occupational safety and health preventive culture through optimum gathering and utilization of data” in Harare on 4 October 2015, Priscilla Mupfumira, the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare…
Dr. Natalia Kanem appointed UNFPA Executive Director
UNITED NATIONS, New York, 3 October 2017 — Dr. Natalia Kanem was appointed Executive Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, today by Secretary-General António Guterres. She holds the rank of United Nations Under-Secretary-General. Dr. Kanem, a Panamanian, is the Fund’s fifth Executive Director. She had been serving as Acting Executive Director since June,…
Non payment of public workers derailing healthcare delivery in Yemen
Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have blamed the deterioration of healthcare delivery in Yemen on non-payment of government workers.They said the widespread and critical problems arose out of the fact that most Ministry of Public Health and Population staff last received their regular salary a year ago. In that regard, MSF is calling for…
Healthcare threatened as Syrian war intensifies
By Staff Writer Amid a sharp intensification of bombing since Tuesday 19 September over northwestern Syria, mainly Idlib govern-orate and north of Hama govern-orate, hospitals are closing. This is either because they have been bombed or because they fear being bombed. Medical emergency organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) says patients are left with ever-decreasing options for…
Zimbabwe concerned about increase in antimicrobial resistance
By Patricia Mashiri Zimbabwe is concerned bout the significant growth of resistance to infections like TB and malaria, which is generally known as antimicrobial resistance. The Ministry of Health and Childcare has launched the Zimbabwe Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) National Action Plan and the Situation Analysis Report under the theme “Together as one Health in the…
Outcry over abuse of children
By Nevson Mpofu There is an outcry over the increase in child abuse cases which come in the form of sexual violation, labour, economic exploitation, neglect, trafficking and pornography. This happens as the world battles HIV and AIDS and increasing levels of poverty. In a bid to bring attention to this disaster and increase…
Tough conditions for Rohingyas refugees in Bangladesh
By Doctors Without Borders/MSF With little potable water available, people are drinking water collected from paddy fields, ponds, or hand-dug shallow wells often contaminated with faeces and urine Friday, September 22, 2017 — A massive scale-up of humanitarian aid in Bangladesh is needed to avoid a massive public health disaster following the arrival of hundreds of…
SADC medical councils collaborate
By Patricia Mashiri In a bid to foster collaboration in the region, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) medical councils have come up with a regulatory plan to ensure positive health outcomes for all. In pursuit of that goal,David Parirenyatwa, the Minister of Health and Child Care officially opened the SADC Medical and Dental Regulatory…