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A DIARRHOEA outbreak has hit Harare Central Prison, which houses an estimated 100 inmates at a time holding cells have no running water. BY RICHARD MUPONDE Clean water has reportedly been scarce at the prison, a development that is believed to have caused the outbreak. The prison was designed to hold 1 470 inmates but now it is overcrowded and often holds up to 2 000 inmates. The diarrhoea outbreak reportedly hit the correctional facility last week. Efforts are being made to contain its spread with doctors and nurses having been placed on high alert. Insiders, who spoke on condition of anonymity, yesterday claimed that the diarrhoea outbreak that affected prisoners was put under wraps due to a court application by an inmate at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison who recently called for an inquest into the country’s prison conditions which he said were a death trap. “A number of inmates contracted the disease at the Harare Central Prison. The issue has been put under wraps since the court application by one of the inmates from Chikurubi who sued after an outbreak of diarrhoea. It’s true that inmates suffered from diarrhoea. Maybe what they (Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services) can dispute is the number of inmates affected, not the diarrhoea cases. “It is really a time bomb. One of these days we will wake up counting dead bodies. It is unfortunate that the authorities tend to hide facts. “You remember there was a time when inmates died of pellagra countrywide with Khami Prison being the epicentre where a number of inmates died and some had to be released and dumped onto the streets gravely ill. They shouldn’t hide such information so that they get help from well-wishers since the government budget can’t cater for all the needs of inmates and working conditions of prison officials,” the source said. ZPCS spokesperson Meya Khanyezi yesterday denied reports of the diarrhoea outbreak. “That is a lie. Who told you such? I was there at Harare Central Prison on another programme. There is nothing like that. “Do not listen to people who are telling you that. We have prison doctors and nurses who are on high alert to prevent such outbreaks and we have not received such a report.” Khanyezi said. She also said an outbreak of diarrhoea could not affect inmates alone, without affecting prison officers when they are always at the same stations with prisoners. “We work together with prisoners as part of our rehabilitation process. In that vein, how can inmates alone contract the disease leaving prison officers outside? “I think next time you should come and see for yourself, do not listen to people they tend to lie,” she said. Last week an inmate at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison Taurai Dodzo represented by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum filed a lawsuit against ZPCS following his unfortunate experience after an outbreak of diarrhoea at the prison. Dodzo said the prison was hit by a diarrhoea, hepatitis B and tuberculosis outbreaks. His application is now before the High Court and lawyers that went to tour Chikurubi last
South Africa is one of the hardest-hit countries in Africa with over 740,000 infections.
The country recorded 60 more virus-related deaths on Wednesday, bringing the death toll to 20,011.
NEW YORK — During the COVID-19 pandemic, public life in much of the world has largely ground to a halt. For the two billion people living in conflict-affected countries, however, there has been no lull in violence and upheaval. Some of the world’s conflicts have even escalated or been reignited during the crisis, dealing devastating new blows to infrastructure and health-care systems that were only beginning to be rebuilt. Globally, we continue to invest far more in the tools of war than in the foundations of peace. guest column:Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka As the world awaited the outcome of the US presidential election, no one doubted the stakes. But, even if Joe Biden emerged victorious, Americans must reckon with the fact that nearly 70 million of their fellow citizens voted for a candidate who lacks any capacity for ethical reasoning. Of course, some are working for peace. On March 23, at the outset of the pandemic, United Nations secretary-general António Guterres called for a global ceasefire, in order to enable countries to focus on the COVID-19 crisis and allow humanitarian organisations to reach vulnerable populations. More than 100 women’s organisations from Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria, and Yemen quickly joined the appeal with a joint statement advocating a broad COVID-19 truce, which could form the basis for a lasting peace. It should come as no surprise that women were among the first to support the call for a ceasefire. Last week, governments and civil society came together to mark 20 years since UN Security Council Resolution 1325 first recognised women’s pivotal roles on the frontlines of peace-building efforts. It is women — including young women — who do much of the painstaking, long-term work that underpin high-profile formal agreements, which are still often reached in talks that exclude them. For example, in Syria, women have negotiated ceasefires to allow the passage of humanitarian aid, worked in field hospitals and schools, distributed food and medicine, and documented human-rights violations. In South Sudan, women have mediated and resolved tribal disputes to prevent conflicts from escalating to violence. Women also spearhead the critical work of campaigning for peace, including through education programs, which teach young people that conflict is never inevitable. Feminist organisations have long called for nuclear disarmament, arms control, and the reallocation of funds from the military to social investments. These appeals are essential. But they have gone unanswered. So has the UN’s call for a COVID-19 ceasefire: according to the Norwegian Refugee Council, in the two months following Guterres’s appeal, armed conflict in 19 countries displaced at least 661 000 people. Unless we listen to women, and shift our investments from war toward peace, the devastation will continue. Enjoy unlimited access to the ideas and opinions of the world’s leading thinkers, including weekly long reads, book reviews, and interviews; The Year Ahead annual print magazine; The Green Recovery special-edition print maga
A MUTARE woman is facing murder charges after stabbing her sister’s nine-month-old baby accusing her of crying non-stop. BY KENNETH NYANGANI The accused Natasha Mugwenjere (32) yesterday appeared before Mutare magistrate Prisca Manhibi who remanded her in custody to November 23. The court was told that Mugwenjere was a mental patient. The State alleges that on November 9, Charlotte Muromba left her daughter in the custody of the accused. The mother of the now-deceased had reportedly gone to fetch water at a nearby borehole. The baby reportedly began to cry and this irritated the accused, who stabbed her twice on the chest with a knife. When Charlotte came back, she found her baby bleeding. They rushed her to Mutare Provincial Hospital where she was pronounced dead upon arrival.
[AIM] Maputo -- The Southern African Development Community (SADC) needs to mobilise about 20 million US dollars to fight a plague of migratory locusts that is threatening food security in the region.
A NEWLY-ESTABLISHED pharmaceutical company, Pendulum, has donated US$45 000 worth of surgical equipment to Mpilo Central Hospital. BY PATRICIA SIBANDA Pendulum Pharmaceuticals was launched at Ascot in Bulawayo yesterday after making the lifesaving donation at the hospital. Mpilo Hospital acting chief executive officer Solwayo Ngwenya told the media at the handover ceremony that the donation would go a long way in helping provide critical surgical services. “This donation is quite heavy, worth US$45 000 and the quantities are quite massive, they include guedel airways, these ones are used for anaesthetic operations to help patients breathe during anaesthesia, so they are lifesaving and also there are manual resuscitators for babies and these ones are used for emergency situations,” he said. “We also have large amounts of surgical bed sheets. These will help a lot in times of COVID-19. They will be used by patients to reduce infection rates and help fight COVID-19. We also received a vaginal speculum which we use to examine women and for cervical screening.” Ngwenya added: “It is indeed a wide variety of life-saving anaesthetic emergency room equipment, surgical beds cleanliness and infection control.” He said they were facing other challenges, but they were trying by all means to manage the situation. “The situation is always manageable, we buy and the government sends us regular supplies through NatPham. We also, as a hospital, use our own monies but this is going to be a big boost because it will allow us to divert some of the monies to buy other items that will be in short supply like N95 masks, things generally used in fighting COVID-19,” Ngwenya said. He said one of the major challenges was the malfunctioning of radiotherapy machines despite the promise made by government to have them fixed. Ngwenya said the hospital was experiencing an increase in the number of COVID-19 patients.
[New Times] The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals on Wednesday, November 11 started the hearing of the case of Felicien Kabuga, a genocide mastermind who was arrested in France in May.
THE Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) says it is now seeking to drum up funding to assist countries in the Americas with central warehouses and cold storage units for COVID-19 vaccines.PAHO Assistant Director Dr Jarbas Barbosa said yesterday that no country within or outside the region is ready to deal with the storage conditions for these vaccines, as there are no other vaccines with the same characteristics as those for COVID-19.
Research shows Black alumni may have lower health risks.
Amelia Ashley Ward has had Kamala Harris’ back since their early days in San Francisco, when Ward was running a Black community newspaper and Harris was a little-known Black woman running for district attorney. Ward endorsed her then — and reported on Harris’ riding a cable car through the streets of the city to drum […]
[Nation] More than 10 clubs in the Coast have been shut down for flouting the Ministry of Health guidelines that seek to combat the spread of Covid-19.
South Africa's economy could go the way of Lebanon and Afghanistan if it doesn't live within its means, writes Natale Labia.
