BY OWN CORRESPONDENT

Ministry of Health and Child Care has launched a targeted polio vaccination campaign in selected districts, with health workers going door-to-door and setting up outreach points to reach young children.

The campaign aims to vaccinate all children under the age of five against polio, a highly infectious disease that can cause paralysis. Authorities say the initiative forms part of a wider regional effort to interrupt transmission, being conducted alongside neighbouring countries including Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia.

In a message posted on X on Monday and circulated in official memos, the ministry said it was “embarking on a targeted polio vaccination campaign to interrupt the transmission of polioviruses”. It urged families in affected areas to ensure that all eligible children are vaccinated, regardless of their previous vaccination status.

The programme will be carried out in two rounds, from 20 to 23 April and from 2 to 5 June, covering both urban and rural communities.

In Bulawayo Metropolitan Province, vaccination teams are operating in Emakhandeni, the Northern Suburbs and Nkulumane. In Harare Metropolitan Province, the campaign covers Harare, Chitungwiza, Epworth and Ruwa.

In Manicaland Province, teams are working in Mutare, Mutasa, Chimanimani and Chipinge. In Mashonaland Central, the campaign targets Mbire, Mt Darwin, Centenary and Rushinga, while in Mashonaland East it focuses on Mudzi. In Mashonaland West, Kariba and Hurungwe are included.

Further south, the drive extends to Chiredzi in Masvingo Province, as well as Binga, Hwange and Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North. In Matabeleland South, teams are operating in Bulilima, Mangwe, Matobo and Gwanda.

Health workers are using a combination of fixed vaccination sites, mobile units and door-to-door visits in neighbourhoods, markets, shops and clinics to reach eligible children, including those in remote and hard-to-access areas.

The ministry has called on parents and guardians to cooperate with vaccination teams, saying the campaign is critical to protecting children and preventing the spread of the disease.

SOURCE: CITE

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

An elephant trampled a villager to death overnight in Mthoniselwa village in Ward 13 of Nkayi district, local authorities said on Sunday, in the latest human-wildlife conflict incident in the area.

The fatal attack occurred in the early hours of the morning, according to community leaders, who said the victim was attacked near the homestead.

“We have received a report from our Lupane Investigations Office regarding a tragic incident in Mthoniselwa village, Ward 13 of Nkayi, where a villager was trampled by an elephant,” said Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks spokesperson Luckmore Safuli.

“Further details regarding the identity and circumstances surrounding the deceased are still pending. ZimParks personnel are actively conducting assessments in the area to gather more information. Additionally, the Nkayi Rural District Council officers, in collaboration with the Zimbabwe Republic Police, are on site to investigate the incident and conduct community awareness initiatives,” Saffouli added.

A message circulated in local community groups earlier in the day alerted residents to the incident and urged caution.

“We received a sad report from police this morning of a person who was attacked and killed by an elephant at night in Mthoniselwa, Ward 13. ZimParks has been notified and a ranger is on the way to track the elephant,” the message read.

Community leaders also urged residents to report the presence of dangerous wildlife and to remain vigilant to avoid further tragedies.

Zimbabwe has in recent years recorded a rise in human-wildlife conflict cases, particularly involving elephants, as animals stray into villages in search of food and water.

BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

A Grade 2 pupil and a young man died on Thursday in a tragic incident at a neighbor’s well in Nkayi Ward 19, after being overcome by suspected carbon monoxide and a total lack of oxygen.

The tragedy unfolded near Nkayi Primary School area when the young student was reportedly sent into the well by an elderly man  to retrieve a bucket that had fallen to the bottom.

He reportedly lured him on the promise of buying him sweets.

When the child failed to resurface, a neighbor entered the shaft in a desperate rescue attempt.

Councillor Thubelihle Mabuza Ncube, who visited the scene on Friday, described the harrowing moments that led to the double fatality. “What happened, we understand, is that a bucket fell into the well and the boy, whose mother was not at home at the time, was lured to get in an retrieve it in exchange of sweets and things,” Ncube said. “It is said there was carbon [monoxide]… there was no oxygen at all at the bottom and that’s how he died”.

According to the councillor, the second individual who had reportedly sent the child to fetch the bucket in the well reached the bottom and was briefly able to interact with the child before being overwhelmed . “He reached the bottom, but [the gas] overcame him,” Ncube explained. “He reportedly tapped the child, but then he was overcome by that carbon and lack of air… They both died in the water “.

A third person attempted to enter the well but immediately signaled to be pulled out, reporting a suffocating heat and a total lack of oxygen inside the shaft.

The councillor expressed deep distress over the decision to send a young child into the well. “It is very painful… a Grade 2 pupil being sent into the well by elders to go and retrieve a container from the bottom,” Ncube said, noting that it appeared the community had grown accustomed to such tasks.

Due to the extreme danger posed by the air quality, rescuers were unable to physically enter the well to recover the bodies. Instead, villagers were forced to use a makeshift tool to retrieve the deceased from the surface.

“They were finally taken out not by being fetched from below; instead, they ended up using something like a wire to pull them because people were afraid to enter where that gas was,” Ncube said.

The incident has left the Nkayi community in mourning. “Nkayi is hurting deeply,” the councillor added. “It is a very painful situation”.

The accused has been charged by the police, according to the councillor,