Poverty is a big damper for timely treatment of cancer

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe

Wadzanayi Michele Mayiseni - A cancer survivor   

Cancer treatment and care remains a challenge in Zimbabwe with most cases getting diagnosed in the late stages. Currently, over 5000 new cancer cases are diagnosed in the country annually. This is just the tip of the iceberg as many cases are not captured and registered. The majority seek medical help when in an advanced stage of the disease. The large number of people living with HIV (1.3 million) results in an even higher number of people who develop cancer.

African Union heeds the voices of girls in distress

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe

Tadiwanashe, 3rd from right, receiving a scholarship in Addis Ababa

Never in her wildest dreams did she ever think that she would fly! Never did she ever think that she would address heads of states and other important delegates in a pre-conference session. Yet, all this became a reality for Tadiwanashe Naghaina, a 19 year old rural girl from Murehwa, Zimbabwe.

Barriers to HIV status disclosure

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
[First published in Manica Post]

HIV testing and counselling emphasises the importance of status disclosure between sexual partners. This is to encourage partners to also get tested.  It helps prevent new infections. It increases opportunities for support and treatment for the one infected. But there are a number of reasons why one cannot not disclose his or her status after testing HIV positive.

Community togetherness for health benefits

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
[First published in Manica Post]

The state of HIV disclosure in rural areas is more open as compared to urban areas. Disclosure in rural communities is better managed at a community level, through well knit people living in the same geographical area. People hailing from the same village know who suffers from diabetes mellitus, hypertension and chronic backache or asthma.

Breaking the news to children living with HIV

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
(First published in Manica Post)

Parents and guardians with children on anti retroviral therapy (ART) have a lot to consider before initiating them on life-long medication. Medication for diabetes mellitus (DM) is easily explained to a child as compared to those on ARVs. Normally, a child with diabetes will understand the condition better as compared to a child who is HIV positive and has to take ARVs for life.

Healers abuse people’s faith

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
(First published in Manica Post)

Acceptance of any condition is the first step to recovery. Denial is fatal. Acceptance is a process, and not an event. So acceptance of any condition is of importance to getting well. Not everyone has to disclose publicly, but disclosing to a loved one, or a buddy, helps. Everyone needs a medic buddy to help adhere to treatment. My spouse is my medic buddy who reminds me to take my medication.

[Podcast] Faith has a pivotal role in road to recovery, but blind faith doesn't work! cautions Catherine Mwauyakufa

[Listen or download this podcast]
Catherine Mwauyakufa is an award-winning journalist and CNS Correspondent from Zimbabwe as well. She is among CNS Fellow awardees too. She shared her personal experience of role of faith in caring for the HIV affected communities and cautions against blind faith while acknowledging the pivotal role faith can play in "road to recovery" as well. Listen to her experience here (or download the podcast). This audio podcast was broadcasted on a webinar on 28th February 2017 on "Does faith help in fighting TB?"
[Listen or download this podcast]

How cancer lost the battle against Michelle

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
(First published in Manica Post)
Michelle Wadzanayi Maiseni is currently awaiting her O-Level test results, and I bet she will do well. 5 years ago she had obtained 5 units in Grade 7, and that too after having spent the whole year in hospital. This interview with Michelle bears testimony to her battle against cancer, in which she emerged victorious and became the driver of her destiny by sheer will power.

Burden of the heart: Cardiovascular diseases

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
To say that more poor people succumb to non communicable diseases (NCDs) as compared to the rich is not an understatement. One would wonder, why this co-relation between poverty and NCDs— if these diseases are non communicable how do they end up killing more poor people? Poverty stricken communities have little or limited recourse to healthcare, and hence access to medical screening is constrained and at times not available to them.

Unsung heroes in the fight against TB

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
“Time is of essence in my job and I am conscious of it,” said Jason, who strives to see TB infection rates go down. Jaison Tarovedzera is a dedicated member of the Riders for Health team in Harare under the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (The Union) Zimbabwe. In an exclusive interview, Jaison told me that he rides to save lives and will ride until he is satisfied that the rate of new TB infections is minimal. I told Jaison that the initiative is to End TB by 2030, to which he replied, “Ending TB once for all would be ideal. However, for now I am focusing on lowering the rates of TB infection in the communities. No one must die of TB and that is why I ride with dedication”.

Burden of heart diseases: Risk factors and prevention

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe

To say that more poor people succumb to non communicable diseases (NCDs), as compared to the rich, is not an understatement. One would wonder, why the co-relation—the diseases are non communicable and so how do they end up killing more poor people. Poverty stricken communities have little or limited health facilities hence access to quality healthcare to these people living is always a constraint and at times not available.

Are TB and HIV rates declining fast enough to meet SDGs by 2030?

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe

Like a yoyo statistics, new HIV infections show a decline while sexually transmitted infections show an upward trend. This is true of Zimbabwe where new HIV infections are on decline among the general populace, but not in the young females aged 15-24 years, in whom the rate of new infections is worryingly going up. Statistics show that new HIV infections for males of the same age-group stands at 3%. The age group  below 14 years also has a rate of infection of 3%. So there is a tap that is leaking there.

A call for collaborative TB-HIV treatment

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe

It is high time that there is a collaborative TB-HIV treatment if we are to have quality life for people living with HIV (PLHIV). Taking medication for HIV daily is already a burden and for TB co-infection the additional tablets to be swallowed by a patient daily become more than a mouthful. To understand the pill burden remember one day you went down with a common cold and had to take two or three tablets for a prescribed treatment time. The moment you got better you stopped the treatment without finishing the course.

Hope on the horizon for people living with MDR-TB

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
More efficacious medications are needed in the successful treatment of multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) if we are to realise the goal of ending  TB by 2030, as envisaged in the sustainable development goals (SDGs). World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 480,000 new MDR-TB cases were noted in 2014. Also treatment success rate stands at 50% globally. Something urgent needs to be done to save lives of people with MDR-TB.

To smoke or not to smoke

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
The global economic cost related to tobacco consumption is unknown but it is likely over US$1 trillion annually, as per the Tobacco Atlas 2015.Tobacco users underestimate the harm caused to their health and are many times not even aware of these dangers. I have come across persons with a deep cough and shortness of breath and at the same time holding a cigarette in one hand.

Raising awareness to reduce asthma burden

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
(First published at The Minica Post)
Since 1998 the world has recognised May 3 as World Asthma Day and this has helped in raising awareness. Asthma is not curable but through proper medication and appropriate management the disease burden can be reduced. The causes of asthma are not wholly understood but include a mix of genetic predisposition and exposure to triggers.

Business outside the box to combat MDR-TB

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
The approach of business as usual has to end, as tackling MDR-TB is an emergency that calls for unusual approaches if we are to meet the target of  ending TB by 2030, as envisaged in one of the sustainable development goals (SDGs). The world has to combat multi drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) on a war footing to make the dream of ending TB by 2030 a reality.

International Women’s Day: A ‘Pledge for Parity’

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe

International women’s day is marked the world over on March 8 and this year’s theme is ‘Pledge for Parity’. There is need to celebrate success and for Zimbabwean women have a cause to celebrate a number of successes, on the gender equality front, where we have scored high. The International Community of Women living with HIV in Zimbabwe (ICW) commemorated the day in Harare.

‘I can, we can’ make a difference in cancer control

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe
Human beings were created in a superior way from any other creations in so much as that they can reason and have power over their actions. However, some of their actions do not exhibit that element to reason, which leaves the human beings to suffer some of the tragic, yet avoidable consequences. Cancer is a non communicable disease and World Cancer Day is observed on February 4 and Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world to commemorate the day. The theme for the next three years is: “I can, we can”.

Half the battle won with child-friendly TB drugs

Catherine Mwauyakufa, CNS Correspondent, Zimbabwe

We end the year 2015 with a sigh of relief for children as there has been a milestone achievement in TB treatment for children. A new and effective TB formulation for children has been unveiled. The world’s first appropriate child-friendly fixed dose combination (FDC) medicine to treat children with drug sensitive TB will soon be available in the market. This is bound to make medication, and hence treatment of childhood TB more manageable.