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How an Apostolic women’s group helped Zimbabwe counter vaccine hesitancy

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BY ELIA NTALI

When the first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Zimbabwe in early 2021, rumours and misconceptions around their development swirled. Vaccine hesitancy rates rose dangerously.

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The government activated awareness campaigns on all media platforms to encourage citizens to get inoculated against the pandemic virus.

But particularly in Zimbabwe’s Apostolic religious community, uptake promised to be slow.

Some 37% of Zimbabweans belong to the Apostolic church, a Christian sect that traditionally shies away from allopathic medical intervention, owing to a belief that illness has a spiritual dimension, and that healing is a function of faith. Amid an outbreak of infectious disease, that’s a dangerous position to preach.

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“Personally, I had fears, because growing up, we were of the belief that taking vaccines was getting the biblical mark of the beast. I am happy that our church leaders who had not been tolerating immunisation are now encouraging us to take our children to clinics.”

Rumbidzai Shayanewako, 32, mother of fourEnter the Apostolic Women Empowerment Trust (AWET), partnered with UNICEF, who  have conducted awareness campaigns that have created demand for the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines and child immunisation.

AWET’s head of programmes, Hope Dunira, says the organisation engaged members of the apostolic communities through training that was centred on traditional and church leaders.

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“We embarked on a training programme that targeted traditional and religious leaders. The training was to educate the leaders to encourage their church members from different churches to access health services such as routine immunisation and the COVID-19 vaccine. This workshop assisted in getting buy-in and support from vital church leaders at national level.

AWET trained 52 District Focal Persons (DFPs) on all issues of COVID-19, in order for them to train behaviour-change facilitators on vaccine uptake, impacts of COVID-19, where to access vaccines, and how to prevent it. The DFPs were also responsible for collecting crucial community feedback and acting upon it. This helped build trust between AWET and the apostolic communities. The DFPs linked apostolic members to the local clinics so that arrangements are done to vaccinate members in confidence.

“We also trained more than 2,000 Behaviour Change Facilitators (BCFs) from the Apostolic communities responsible for awareness-raising campaigns on COVID-19, and promoting the uptake of essential services – inclusive of vaccines – from 52 districts, and eight provinces in the country. These BCFs have leverage in penetrating the church as they are part of the church themselves. Hence, they do not face resistance,” said Dunira.

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Rumbidzai Shayanewako, 32, a mother of four and a member of one of the ultraconservative apostolic churches, said she gained confidence after interventions from healthcare workers and non-governmental organisations.

“Members from Apostolic churches are attributing the lower death rate and the higher recovery rate to vaccination. Therefore the perception has positively changed for both child immunisation and COVID-19,”

Reverend Mathias Tsine, Federation of Indigenous Churches in Zimbabwe

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“Personally, I had fears, because growing up, we were of the belief that taking vaccines was getting the biblical mark of the Beast. I am happy that our church leaders who had not been tolerating immunisation are now encouraging us to take our children to clinics. This was changed by the education we got from various awareness campaigns,” said Shayanewako.

Reverend Mathias Tsine from the Federation of Indigenous Churches in Zimbabwe (FICZ), an ecumenical board responsible for regulating the affairs of indigenous churches, believes perceptions have changed on both routine immunisation and Covid-19.

“The government COVID-19 vaccination roll-out failed to get buy-in from churches across the board, not only Apostolic churches. This was as a result of the programme being sabotaged with biblical references pointing at the mark of the Beast – this was a pulpit message. Furthermore, there was widespread rhetoric and propaganda that the programme was meant to eliminate the surging global population, but particularly Africans.

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“It is quite pleasing that we managed to educate our religious constituency on the importance of adhering to the government call, and a lot responded willingly, given that the roll-out wasn’t compulsory. Previously vaccinations were associated with myopic views and speculations as was witnessed with COVID-19 – although the eventual results proved critics wrong. Members from Apostolic churches are attributing the lower death rate and the higher recovery rate to vaccination. Therefore the perception has positively changed for both child immunisation and COVID-19,” said Tsine.

He added: “Our outreach programs emphasised adherence and as such, the uptake has increased tremendously with some churches migrating from the traditional norms of not accepting medications for themselves and their children. It is through this understanding that churches are experiencing a reduction in mortality rate and congregants celebrated God’s hand upon the end of lockdowns after having lost a few to the pandemic as compared to other societies, owing to heeding the call to vaccination.”Gavi.org

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Zimbabwe’s new mothers face extortion for ‘free’ child health cards

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Photo credit: Gamuchirai Masiyiwa, GPJ Zimbabwe

BY GAMUCHIRAI MASIYIWA

Summary: The quiet return of maternity fees and the black-market sale of essential documents put extra burdens on mothers as they struggle to navigate a broken system.

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First-time mother Connie Jowastands with her 3-month-old baby nestled against her back, chatting with other mothers in line. Like many women at this crowded clinic in Harare’s Mabvuku suburb, Jowa is trying to get a Child Health Card, which was unavailable when she gave birth at a public hospital, and was still out of reach at her local clinic. Health cards are mysteriously out of stock.

 

But they can be bought under the table, if you know who to ask and are willing to pay.

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Zimbabwe’s Child Health Cards, meant to be free to new mothers, are crucial documents that track babies’ growth, vaccinations and medical histories. Without them, each clinic visit becomes a reset button. Inquiry into the child’s medical history starts from scratch. Since July 2024, the cards have disappeared from health facilities across Harare’s central hospitals and 42 council clinics — even though the card’s producers say they’re making enough to meet demand. This artificial shortage has birthed a shadow market where clinic staff quietly sell this essential document to desperate mothers. This sort of nickel-and-dime bribery exposes deep cracks in a health care system that’s already failing the most vulnerable people.

 

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What started as a clandestine operation has become an open secret.

 

“When cards arrive at a clinic, they’re kept by the sister in charge. But it’s usually nurse aides or junior staff who sell them, working in cahoots with other staff members,” says Simbarashe James Tafirenyika, who leads the Zimbabwe Municipality’s Nurses and Allied Workers Union.

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Someone who sells 100 cards can pocket around US$500, she says, and none of that money goes to the government of the council.

 

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The going rate for the Child Health Card is US$5, say several mothers who spoke to Global Press Journal.

 

Medical Histories on Scraps of Paper

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When the system works as designed, every mother receives a Child Health Card when her baby is born. Now, most mothers must track their infants’ medical histories on scraps of paper.

 

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Harare’s council clinics alone deliver more than 3,000 babies every month, with each mother left scrambling for documentation.

 

“I feel hurt,” Jowa says. “I want to know what vaccines my child has received and their purposes, but I just can’t get that information.”

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A nurse aide assistant at one of the council clinics has witnessed this shadow market.

 

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“If a nurse is selling, they ask the mother to be ‘skillful’ if they need the card,” says the assistant, who requested anonymity for fear of retribution. In Zimbabwe, “skillful” is a common euphemism for paying small bribes.

 

While the Ministry of Health and Child Care is supposed to supply the cards for free, Prosper Chonzi, the City of Harare’s director of health, admits supplies have been erratic for six months and that people have complained about being forced to purchase these cards. Clinic workers may be exploiting the known shortage and coordinating among themselves to sell the cards rather than providing them for free, he says.

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“We can’t rule that out,” he says.

 

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The card shortage coincides with the quiet return of maternity fees in public hospitals. Though not officially announced, hospitals have begun billing mothers after delivery — a policy change the government would neither confirm nor deny.

 

High Inflation, More Corruption

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Between 2011 and 2024, more than 1 million pregnant women in the country delivered babies for free at health care clinics, under a scheme called results-based financing. Maternal mortality rates dropped during that time.

 

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But these gains, partly achieved through better access to safe delivery services, face new hurdles as budget constraints and economic pressures reshape the health care landscape.

 

Even in 2021, a study from Transparency International Zimbabwe surveyed over 1,000 people in Zimbabwe and found that 74% had been asked to pay a bribe while trying to access health care services. A feeling of being underpaid amidst a deteriorating economy and high inflation was a key driver among health workers who solicitated bribes, which has been a rising trend, according to the study.

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“The motivation for earning an extra income is strong especially in countries with a high rate of inflation,” the study states.

 

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Zimbabwe’s health care system faces chronic challenges, including an exodus of health workers to other countries, inadequate funding, drug shortages, obsolete infrastructure and more. In 1991, the government introduced user fees across public institutions as part of an economic structural adjustment program. The government abolished the fees in 2011, only to partially reinstate them around 2013.

 

Prudence Hanyani, a community activist in Harare, says the reintroduction of user fees in public hospitals will burden women who already shoulder extra costs, like paying for midwives, so they can get better treatment when giving birth.

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“Maternal health services should be free,” she says, “because giving birth is a service for the nation that contributes to the country’s population.”

 

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Mothers Pay the Price

 

Valerie Shangwa, who gave birth four and a half months ago at a private maternity hospital, still has no card for her daughter.

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“You know how difficult it is to keep a paper,” she says. “When nurses ask about last month’s weight, you end up guessing, and that distorts the whole record.”

 

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Charlton Prickise, technical director at Print Flow, says his company sells Child Health Cards only to government-authorized health facilities and faces no shortages.

 

“The shortages mean health facilities simply aren’t coming to get them,” he says.

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Though Print Flow hasn’t detected leaks, Prickise recalls finding other versions of this card on the market two years ago, possibly from a nongovernmental organization. Print Flow isn’t the sole supplier of the cards, and they haven’t received any government orders recently.

 

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In a written response to Global Press Journal, Donald Mujiri, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Child Care, said the shortage of Child Health Cards is due to supply chain inefficiencies and insufficient donor funding. The cards, he says, are procured with government funding and aid from supporting partners such as the United Nations Children’s Fund. Nevertheless, Mujiri says, the ministry needs to strengthen the supply chain management system at all levels and proactively mobilize resources for procuring the cards.

 

Meanwhile, mothers wait — or pay the price. Faith Musinami, 26, delivered her daughter in July 2024. An orderly told her the clinic only had cards for boys, but if she wanted, they could organize one for US$5. Musinami had not budgeted for the cost. She sacrificed the last penny she had.

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This story was originally published by Global Press Journal.

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National

Ranger killed by elephant in Kariba

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

A 62-year-old ranger, Josphat Mandishara, was tragically killed by an elephant in Kariba yesterday.

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Mandishara, who worked for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), was on patrol in the Gatche-gatche area with fellow rangers and police officers.

At around 10 pm, Mandishara returned to the harbor where their boat was docked, and that’s when he encountered the elephant. The elephant charged at him, causing fatal injuries. His colleagues were nearby, resupplying at the Gatche-gatche Irrigation Scheme.

Mandishara’s body was taken to Kariba District Hospital for a post-mortem, and the incident was reported to the police.

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ZimParks has sent a team to manage the problem elephant and prevent similar incidents in the future.

The Director General of ZimParks, Prof. Edson Gandiwa, and his team have sent condolences to Mandishara’s family, friends, and colleagues. Mandishara will be remembered for his dedication to wildlife conservation in Zimbabwe.

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In the community

Crocodile attacks claim 9 lives, injure 11

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI

A surge in crocodile attacks has left a trail of death and destruction in Zimbabwe, with 9 fatalities and 11 injuries reported in the last two months.

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According to a statement released by the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks), 49 human-crocodile conflict cases were recorded during the same period, resulting in the loss of 44 cattle and 60 goats.

The Mid-Zambezi region, which includes Lake Kariba, Angwa River, and Hunyani River, was the hardest hit, with 19 cases reported. The Central region recorded 14 cases, while 16 cases were reported in other areas, including Matopo, Harare, North-West Matabeleland, and South-East Low-veld.

ZimParks has urged communities to exercise extreme caution, especially around water bodies, during the current rain season. The authority has advised communities to ensure that livestock and children are not left unattended near rivers or lakes, and to take precautions when engaging in water activities such as fishing, swimming, and domestic chores.

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To mitigate the situation, ZimParks is working closely with local authorities and conservation partners to raise public awareness and promote safety practices. The authority has emphasized its commitment to finding a balance between ensuring public safety and conserving wildlife.

As the situation continues to unfold, ZimParks has appealed to the public to remain vigilant and to report any crocodile sightings or attacks to the authorities.

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