Category: Newspaper Publications

…Vows to fight gender-based violence

Writes Caiphas Chimhete

Forty-year-old Tawanda Makwakwa Ncube vividly remembers the routine horrific and brutal moments that his frail mother endured at the hands of his merciless father while he was still a toddler.

Whenever he was drunk, the father would torment every member of the family, for no apparent reason, sending the children fleeing in different directions for cover, leaving their defenseless mother to face the wrath of her vicious drunken husband.

“We would watch from a distance our mother being beaten but we could not help her. We were very young,” he recounted. “She would wail for help and neighbours would come to restrain my father.”

But it was only in very extreme cases that she would cry for help. In most cases, she would be brutalized in silence not wanting neighbours to know or dare report to the police. The next day, she would try by all means to hide the heinous abuse by wearing a smile on her face masking the physical pain and emotional damage she endured, and attributing her injuries to false encounters elsewhere.

Tawanda’s parents later divorced when the mother could no longer take the abuse. She fled and sought refuge with relatives, taking along only the youngest of the three children. However, the abuse continued for Tawanda and his sibling who had remained, this time at the hands of a cruel stepmother. His father remarried just a couple of months after the divorce.

She would constantly yell out at them, beat them up for the slightest mistake, denied them enough food and proper clothing. When Tawanda’s father passed on a few years later, he dropped out of school and left Mashonaland West province, where he was born to stay with relatives in Matabeleland North province.

“I don’t want my children to go through what I experienced during my childhood,” said Tawanda. “This is why I decided to be a Gender Justice Champion, to give my children a proper upbringing and sensitise the local community about the dangers of gender-based violence.”

When Tawanda heard that the Community Working Group on Health (CWGH) with support from Christian Aid was training Gender Justice Champions (GJCs) on sexual and reproductive health rights in his village, he jumped for the opportunity and determined to effect change in his community.

Today, Tawanda of Ward 20 in Bubi district is one of the 60 community members who were trained by CWGH with support from Christian Aid to be community champions to teach and raise awareness on gender-based violence (GBV), menstrual hygiene and family planning issues in Bubi district in Matabeleland North province.

The programme, Breaking Barriers: SRHR and Gender Justice for Women, Girls, and People with Disabilities in Bubi district, is being supported by the Ministry of Health and Childcare (MoHCC), Ministry of Women Affairs, Small and Medium Development, Rural District Council, Department of Social Development, National Aids Council (NAC) and the ZRP’s Victim Friendly Unit.

The GJCs provide overall guidance to peer groups in communities mainstreaming gender in all activities in the form of focus group discussions, road shows, debates, organize awareness programmes on various gender issues including legislation to influence behaviour change.

Tawanda says he was leading an exemplary life by not indulging in any form of violence against his wife or children so that the community could accept his teachings on GBV, family planning, and menstrual hygiene.

“I don’t want my children to suffer like I did. Communities must be aware of the effects of gender-based violence, this is why I am here today to help raise awareness in the communities,” said Tawanda, who added that he works closely with the local traditional leadership, health workers, and the police.

Signs of the impact of the gender justice champions’ work are beginning to show.

“When we call for meetings, people in this community come in numbers. Their hunger for information on GBV and sexual reproductive health rights indicates that very soon we will be on top of the situation,” he said.

However, statistics indicate that cases of GBV were pervasive in most Southern African countries mainly because of cultural, religious and social norms. In Zimbabwe, about 1 in 3 women aged 15 to 49 have experienced physical violence while 1 in 4 have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15.

It is against this background that the government through the Zimbabwe National GBV Strategy 2023-2030 with support from partners such as CWGH, aims to have a reduction of 30% in the prevalence of all forms of GBV and other harmful practices.

The World Health Organisation (2022) says children who experience abuse are more likely to become abusers themselves, creating a vicious cycle. However, Tawanda was fortunate to have received some counselling from relatives who plucked him from the jaws of poverty and abuse.

“I was lucky because I got help early enough, this is why I have taken it upon myself to help others in my community,” he said.

Climate change and antimicrobial resistance reversing progress in malaria fight: CWGH

HEALTH experts said this week the government must urgently channel resources towards the fight against tuberculosis, as infections remain high.

Zimbabwe joined the rest of the globe to mark World TB Day on Sunday.

It was commemorated under the theme “YES! We Can End TB’’.

Itai Rusike, director at Community Working Group on Health, said Zimbabwe records around 21 000 new cases of TB annually, with 3,1% of these being drug resistant (DR).

The number of new cases were estimated at about 16 300 in 2021.

Experts said TB claimed the lives of 1,3 million people worldwide in 2022.

In Zimbabwe, TB kills close to 6 300 people annually, which is an increase from 4 600 deaths in 2019.

It is the third leading cause of death in Zimbabwe, according to official statistics.“This is unacceptable,” Rusike said.

“We know how to end TB. We have the lifesaving tools to prevent, diagnose and treat TB. But we must break down the barriers and inequities that cause millions of people to suffer and die from TB every year.

“We note the growing epidemic of DR-TB, affecting mainly poor and vulnerable populations in our country and we call upon our government to take necessary steps to address and strengthen the health systems, by investing resources to prevent transmission.

“They must expand access to early diagnosis and effective treatment for all forms of TB,” he said.

Rusike said the government should provide financial support for TB research in Zimbabwe, as well as, developing innovative methods to prevent, diagnose, and treat the disease.

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

According to research, TB is widespread in communities that are ravaged by poverty, poor housing, inadequate nutrition and overcrowded transport systems. Its transmission is aggravated by unsafe working conditions.

“Without adequate financial resources, we cannot win the fight against TB but it is also important to note that the fight against TB is everyone’s responsibility and not just for the health sector alone. We should all take action to address it,” Rusike said.

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease. Its control hinges on preventing people from getting infected.

Ministry of Heal and Child Care Aids and TB deputy director Fungai Kavenga said government has put in place measures to curtail the spread of the disease.

“At health facility level, individuals are screened for TB symptoms at every visit and undergo further tests if symptoms are present,” he said in an interview with Zimbabwe Independent.

“Community level activities involve targeted active screening for TB using mobile trucks and volunteers, focusing on high-risk groups, such as mining communities.”

Kavenga emphasised that trends showed that TB in some cases is “HIV-driven”.

“Prevention therapy is offered for those at higher risk of developing TB,” he added.

Kavenga said government had procured TB detecting equipment.

“In terms of treatment, efforts are being made to update guidelines, ensure a steady supply of commodities and medicines, provide laboratory support services for patients on treatment, offer social and financial support, and train healthcare workers,” he said.

“These measures aim to provide quality care and increase retention of patients in treatment programmes.”

According to the World Health Organisation Global TB Report of 2023, TB remains a major public health emergency globally. (The Zimbabwe Independent)

PEOPLE are flooding traditional herbal markets, as prices of prescription drugs spike and the public health delivery system deteriorates at an alarming rate under pressures from a relentless economic crisis, experts said this week.

This comes as regulators, Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) threw caution against unregistered medicine.

Many of the vital drugs that patients require are readily available in private hospitals and pharmacies, but are unaffordable to the majority of Zimbabweans.

In a country where the domestic unit has been battered by an inflation rate estimated at 47,6% in February, consumer buying power has been eroded.

Private players also demand United States dollars, which were this week selling at US$1:ZW$27 000, shutting millions out of the health delivery system.

Experts said as a result, millions were trooping to traditional medicines.

But it is a market fraught with dangers, according to experts who spoke to the Zimbabwe Independent.

It is a repeat of the health crisis that shook the country in 2008, when the domestic unit crashed under 500 billion percent inflation, leading to the crumbling of State hospitals and clinics.

Itai Rusike, a public health specialist, told the Independent that it was increasingly difficult for patients to access drugs in public health institutions.

“Devaluation and consequent inflation have increased the cost of drugs for consumers,” Rusike said.

“Foreign currency shortages undermine drug purchases, hence the significant drop in drug availability at urban and rural clinics due to the increased stock-outs of vital drugs, reducing confidence in the system.

“This represents an unfair cost burden on poor communities. It also opens the way for the growth of private unregulated drug markets and traditional herbal medicine is clearly one way that poor communities are making up for the falling availability of and access to western medicines,” he said.

However, George Kandiero, president of the Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association (Zinatha) threw caution against the use of herbal medicines, which are sold on the streets and other back stage markets.

“It is very unhygienic for you to be selling your wares on 4th Street (a common herbal medicine market in Harare),” he said, emphasising that patients must make use of registered traditional healers.

“The advantage of someone (a traditional healer) who is registered is that you are thoroughly inspected and there are standards that you must follow.

“At times you see some of the funny things that people are putting into their bodies, which are very harmful. They don’t know how long they would have stayed on the streets.

“The credibility of registered practitioners is being put at risk. This happens in any other profession where someone is doing a shady job. People end up thinking everyone who is in that profession does the same. Something should be done,” Kandiero added.

MCAZ asserted that many herbal medicines fall under a broad category of medicines called complementary medicines and they can be used to treat some conditions or to supplement dietary nutrients like vitamins, minerals among others.

“The risk in these medicines lies in that not all their side effects and medicinal interactions are known and herbal medicines can only be distributed through licenced wholesalers,” MCAZ said.