MSF hands over Eastern Cape NCD project after care strengthening

Key takeaways

• Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has started a gradual handover of its NCD project to the Eastern Cape Department of Health after three years of collaboration.
• The project strengthened diabetes and hypertension care through medication pick-up points, outreach, screening and training.
• A district-wide roll-out of HbA1c point of care testing will support diabetes management in Amathole district.
• Community members, CBOs and health workers were trained and involved to improve access to chronic care closer to home.
• MSF remains in South Africa to respond to medical emergencies, outbreaks, humanitarian crises and barriers to healthcare access.

MSF begins gradual handover to the Eastern Cape Department of Health

Since 2023, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has supported efforts to address the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. After three years of partnering with the Eastern Cape Department of Health (ECDOH), community-based organisations (CBOs) and the community, MSF has now started to gradually handover its NCD project to the EDOH.

Planned support for medication access and HbA1c testing

To sustain these gains, MSF will support the launch of a medication pick-up point and district-wide roll-out of Haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) point-of-care testing for the Amathole district. The handover ceremony will take place in Gcina on Wednesday, 8 July 2026.

What HbA1c point of care testing means

The point-of-care HbA1c testing is an innovative approach to diabetes management, which allows clinicians and patients to obtain results in real time and determine whether the condition is controlled or not. This allows clinicians to be able to adjust medications in real time or decant patients to differentiated models of care, depending on the results, which makes management of conditions more efficient and decreases costs for both the DOH and patients.

Handover ceremony in Gcina will include community services

Representatives of the ECDOH, CBOs and communities are expected to attend. In addition, various medical services will be offered to the Gcina community in partnership with local healthcare providers. These services will include diabetes and hypertension screening, dental services, eye care services, HIV and TB screening and testing, minor ailments treatment, immunisation, cervical cancer screening, family planning, as well as health education talks.

“This event is meant to recognise the fruitful collaborations we have had and the impact thereof of all the effort put in by MSF and DOH together in ensuring communities get services closer to their communities and get patient-centric care for chronic diseases, including NCDs, thereby reiterating in practice the DOH priority of integrated chronic disease care,” says Manighandan Sivaramakrishnan, country co-ordinator for MSF in South Africa.

Three years of work to strengthen diabetes and hypertension care

Over the past three years, MSF and ECDOH have worked together to strengthen diabetes and hypertension services, touching thousands of lives. With support from CBOs, the project established medication pick-up points that allow stable patients to collect chronic medication closer to home. This has reduced travel time and costs for patients while easing pressure on primary healthcare clinics. By the end of 2025, MSF had renovated and equipped four pick-up points, ensuring reliable and accessible medicines and providing spaces for health education and outreach services by the DOH. They are managed by trained community members, who distribute the medication free of charge to patients while ensuring appropriate follow-up is done at primary health.

Medication pick-up points and community leadership

One of the medication pickup points is located at the home of traditional leader, Chief Phathuxolo Tyhali, with whom MSF has closely collaborated with.

“In my 11 years as a chief, one of the things that really bothered me about the challenges faced by my community was walking long distance during rainy or very hot days to get medication. Receiving calls from health practitioners in clinics to inform me that people are defaulting, is what moved me to approach MSF to see how we can help my community,” says chief Tyhali.

Community outreach, screening and lifestyle support

MSF has also expanded community outreach and screening activities so that care does not only depend on facility visits and piloted healthy lifestyle groups with some CBOs, focusing on educating members on nutrition, diet and exercise. In addition, MSF also trained CBO members on raising awareness of mental health in the communities.

Training for health workers and community health workers

To strengthen primary healthcare services, MSF introduced a nurse mentorship programme across seven healthcare facilities for 80 health professionals, as well as provided subdistrict wide trainings to 183 health workers in 60 DOH facilities to equip nurses with skills to manage diabetes and hypertension. About 201 health workers were also trained on point of care testing for glycosylated hemoglobin to strengthen care for diabetes, while 86 health workers were trained on mental health and interpersonal communication skills. Recognising the role of Community Health Workers (CHWs), MSF also provided training on hypertension and diabetes to 375 CHWs and demonstrated correct measurement of blood pressure and blood glucose.

HbA1c testing and equipment support

Following the training, we piloted the use of HbA1c blood testing for diabetes in five of the seven facilities and donated equipment and supplies for NCD management and diagnosis.

MSF remains in South Africa

Although MSF is handing over activities in the Eastern Cape, the organisation remains in South Africa to respond to medical emergencies, including diseases outbreaks, humanitarian crises and other situations where people face barriers to accessing healthcare.