South Africa

An MSF team responds to a cholera outbreak in Tshwane. South Africa, June 2023.

Ebola disease in DRC: find out how we're responding

In South Africa, we respond to disease epidemics, non-communicable diseases, and assist migrants with access to healthcare.

In October 2023, in partnership with the Eastern Cape Department of Health, we launched a project to improve the identification and management of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Amathole District, which is MSF's first NCD project in South Africa. We aim to apply lessons from two decades of working on HIV and tuberculosis (TB) in South Africa to enhance NCD care in rural settings.

We also work with undocumented people and migrants in Tshwane, where we run a project that provides access to vaccines for these underserved communities.

Having achieved the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target in 2018 in Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, we redirected our approach to tackle the TB epidemic and reduce the number of cases in the area.

After 22 years of activities and campaigning, we closed our HIV and TB project in Khayelitsha, Western Cape in 2020.

Our activities in 2024 in South Africa

Data and information from the International Activity Report 2024.

42

Staff in 2024 (full-time equivalent)

€1.9 M

1.9M

expenditure in 2024

1999

Year MSF first worked in the country

MSF in South Africa in 2024 In South Africa, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) focused on training health staff to strengthen the response to both communicable and non-communicable diseases.

Country map for the IAR 2024.

Since 2022, MSF has been running a non-communicable diseases (NCDs) project in Butterworth, Eastern Cape province. With the Department of Health, MSF provided training on hypertension and diabetes to nurses, community health workers, and data entry clerks in Mnquma subdistrict. Following the training, we donated vital signs monitors and digital scales with stadiometers to health facilities, and closely supported healthcare facilities, with improvements to infrastructure and logistics. We also conducted health education training for community-based organisations, and ran health promotion sessions on NCDs in the community and through social media and radio.

The Department of Health approved three external pick-up points for medication, which MSF equipped. Pick-up points are managed by independent healthcare providers, who dispense the medication free-of-charge to patients, on behalf of the government.

To ensure an integrated approach for all NCDs, efficient use of resources, collective advocacy, and full community involvement, MSF partnered with other humanitarian and health-focused NGOs in Amathole, where our project for non-communicable diseases is located, to form the Amathole District Partners forum, a platform where we can develop joint strategies.

In 2024, we trained Department of Health staff in digital health promotion to equip them with the skills to respond to disease outbreaks. Following the training, we supported the launch of a two-week digital campaign to raise awareness of mpox, which reached millions of people.

We were also a key partner in an exercise assessing the country’s capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health emergencies, and to strengthen the health security system, which was successfully completed in the last quarter of 2024.