MSF had been providing health services in Shiselweni region since 2007, focusing on HIV, drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) and, during the pandemic, COVID-19. After successfully decentralising HIV and DR-TB care by bringing treatment closer to people’s homes, and lowering HIV incidence, all these activities were handed over to Ministry of Health and local partners, and the project closed in 2023.

Sexual health-related diseases, such as HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and cervical cancer, as well as the complications of unsafe abortions, remain significant health issues in Eswatini. An STI study conducted by MSF in Shiselweni showed that one-third of the patients attending outpatient consultations in six general healthcare facilities have at least one STI.

Based on this research and a detailed assessment, we opened a new sexual health project in Manzini region in the last quarter of 2023. The project provides comprehensive sexual health services, including STI testing and treatment; HIV testing and prevention; screening, prevention and treatment for hepatitis B and C and cervical cancer; and family planning at a dedicated MSF clinic in Matsapha Industrial Area and in the communities.

The project brings multiple practices to the country, such as laboratory-based diagnosis and treatment of STIs; molecular screening for cervical cancer; injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis for HIV; screening and treatment of hepatitis B and C, as well as hepatitis B vaccination; and online HIV counselling and self-testing.

The project implements MSF’s ‘Patients and Populations as Partners’ approach, through close engagement with communities.