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Engage communities in TB planning, Government urged

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) has called on the government to engage communities in planning and implementing  of strong, integrated Tubercolosis (TB) mitigation as part of response measure, amid revelations that over 6 000 Zimbabweans succumb to the pulmonary disease every year. 

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The call was made by CWGH, a health watch organisation executive director Itai Rusike ahead of the World TB Day commemorations.

Rusike said although there has been some efforts made towards ending TB, a killer disease and highlighting further action that is needed to defeat the life-threatening disease, communities should be part of the action. 

“TB remains a major obstacle to attaining the SDG vision of health, development, and prosperity for all in Zimbabwe,”Rusike told VicFallsLive.

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“Our country has an estimated 21 000 new cases of TB each year, and 3.1% of these are drug resistant. 

” 6300 Zimbabweans die of TB each year despite it being preventable and curable.”

According to health activists, most of these are recorded in mining towns and communities where there is no adequate Personal Protective Equipment. 

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Rusike also called for more scientific research and funding towards eradication of pulmonary disease including the Covid-19 pandemic. 

“Funding for research on TB in Zimbabwe is minimal, and new tools to prevent, diagnose, and treat TB are urgently required,” he said.

“There is an opportunity to leverage Covid-19 infrastructure and investments to improve the TB response, integrate TB and Covid-19 testing and tracing, and strengthen efforts to overcome the barriers that people continue to face when accessing TB services.”

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According to studies,  the advent of Covid-19, three years ago eliminated 12 years of progress in the Global Fight against TB as governments, due to its response to the pandemic pushed aside TB outreach and services, resulting in a 20% drop in diagnosis and treatment worldwide.

“This World TB Day 2023 (March 24) we emphasize that “Yes! We can end TB” – aims to inspire hope and encourage high-level leadership, increased investments, faster uptake of new World Health Organisation recommendations, adoption of innovation, accelerated action and multisectoral collaboration to combat the TB epidemic,”Rusike said.

“It is time for the government to fulfill its commitments towards defeating TB. 

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“The government should engage communities in planning and implementing strong, integrated TB and Covid-19 mitigation and response measures.” 

 In addition, he said, there is need to increase financing for TB prevention and care, innovations in care delivery, and research and development, including for new TB vaccines to prevent the development of Drug Resistant TB. 

” The theme brings attention to tuberculosis (TB) and our collective power to end TB by 2030 and therefore reach the SDG goals,” he added.

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“It brings hope and builds on the amazing work done in 2022 by Zimbabwe as one of the TB High Burden Countries to recover from the impact of Covid -19 while ensuring access to TB treatment and prevention.

” It is time to take urgent action to get back on track and accelerate collective efforts to fulfill the 2022 United Nations targets on TB to defeat the disease and save lives.

“The commitments made, and targets set by Heads of State and other leaders to accelerate action to end TB must be kept even in Covid-19 crisis and should be backed by adequate investments (and) this will help to protect the lives of thousands of peoplesuffering from TB and to prevent further loss of gains made in the fight against TB.

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” Not one more person should die from TB because it is a preventable and treatable disease.” 

 

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Chinese-funded power plant expansion project in Zimbabwe set for commissioning

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BY XINHUA

Zimbabwean Energy and Power Development Minister Soda Zhemu said here on Monday that prolonged power cuts are “now a thing of the past” in Zimbabwe following the completion of Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 and 8 expansion project.

Chinese firm Sinohydro undertook the project, adding 600 MW to Hwange Thermal Power Station, the country’s largest coal-fired power plant.

The project will be commissioned by President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Thursday.

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Zhemu said at a press conference that recent media reports predicting a return to prolonged power cuts after August were false, as Zimbabwe is now guaranteed adequate power supplies in the short-to-medium term.

He said Unit 7 is already feeding into the grid after the successful completion of tests in June and is now commercially available for operation. Unit 8 is also undergoing a similar test and is expected to be available commercially by August or September this year.

“So there is no way that we are going back to the past where we used to experience long hours of load shedding,” Zhemu added.

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Five die in Binga traffic accident

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

A Stallion Cruise bus overturned in Binga on Sunday morning killing five passengers on board, police have revealed.

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According to witnesses, the bus which was travelling to Bulawayo was reportedly speeding when the accident happened.

National police spokesman Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi said the bus overturned and landed on its roof in the Sikalenge area between Siabuwa and Binga centre.

“The ZRP confirms a fatal road traffic accident which occurred on 16/07/23 in the morning near Masumo Bridge, Samende area, Binga in which a Stallion Cruise bus travelling from Siabuwa to Binga overturned,” Nyathi said.

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“The ZRP confirms that five people were killed whilst the number of injured is yet to be ascertained.”

The bus reportedly veered off the road at a sharp curve near the Masumu River bridge at around 7AM.

The accident comes barely a week after the same bus caught fire in Mutare on July 11 and all passengers escaped unharmed.

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Zimbabwe declares its own load shedding over, but locals are sceptical

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BY AFP

Zimbabwe’s government on Tuesday announced a sudden end of blackouts that have crippled businesses and left millions of households without electricity for up to 19 hours a day.

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The information ministry said a cabinet meeting had “noted with satisfaction” that the power utility “has announced the end to load shedding as a result of the interventions implemented” by the government.

The statement did not give details of the steps taken to end the load shedding.

The southern African country has for years been reeling under severe power shortages.

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They worsened late last year when the main electricity supply, a hydro plant at the giant Kariba Dam in the north, suffered very low water levels caused by recurring droughts.

In March the power utility company said it had launched a new 300MW coal-fired unit with Chinese finance in a bid to ease repeated power outages.

But Zimbabweans greeted the news of the end of outages with scepticism, as some said they were sitting in the dark as the announcement was made.

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One Zimbabwean @sammie541 tweeted “funny (be)cause we actually don’t have…(electricity) now”, adding her Harare neighbourhood had been without power since Monday.

Other Zimbabweans questioned on Twitter if the announcement was not strategically timed ahead of national elections due next month.

The country goes to the polls on August 23 to elect a president and legislature.

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Eighty-year-old President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who replaced strongman ruler Robert Mugabe in 2017 after a military-led coup, is seeking re-election.

But he faces a disaffected population that is battling hyperinflation, poverty and high unemployment.

Official figures placed inflation at 175.8% in June, up from 86.5% in May, but Johns Hopkins University professor of applied economics Steve Hanke believes real inflation in Zimbabwe is more than 1 000%.

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