MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services
HIV/Aids

Marking a Decade of Care: MSF Celebrates 11 Years of Community-Centered HIV Services in Beira

Press Release30 June 2025

Launched in 2014, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) began its project in Beira, Mozambique, to respond to the urgent medical needs of key populations at higher risk of HIV, including sex workers, adolescents, men who have sex with men, and transgender people. The initiative extended along the corridor from Beira to Tete, reaching into neighbouring Malawi and Zimbabwe.

At the time, MSF was the only organisation in Mozambique offering dedicated and comprehensive care for these communities, many of whom faced systemic stigma, discrimination in health facilities, and exclusion from national health programs.
 

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services
MSF staff arriving to assess the need for healthcare response at one of the brothels where the team regularly conducts health promotion activities and provides HIV tests and follow-up with night mobile clinics. This brothel was badly damaged by the cyclone, and left largely unusable, meaning the sex workers have had to go to new places, sometimes more dangerous, to meet with clients.
Pablo Garrigos/MSF

Over the past decade, MSF has delivered HIV prevention and treatment, sexual and reproductive healthcare, and safe abortion services through a peer-led, community-centred model. By working in close partnership with community members and the Ministry of Health, and through mobile clinics and outreach, MSF helped break down barriers to care and build lasting trust with communities historically underserved by the health system. In times of crisis, MSF also stepped in to provide emergency support, including a rapid response to the devastation caused by Cyclone Idai in 2019. Throughout the years, MSF remained a reliable presence, always there when the people of Beira needed it most.

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services

A midwife speaks to patients who have come to the Chingussura health center in Beira, Mozambique, for pre- and post-natal care. At 10 health centers in Beira, MSF provides support to Ministry of Health staff offering sexual and reproductive health care.

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services

Condoms and lubricant are handed to sex workers, at-risk youth and men who have sex with men in Beira. Unprotected sex remains one of the biggest challenges in the community and is one of the main causes of sexually transmitted infections reported in MSF community clinics.

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services

Women walk in an underresourced area of Beira, Mozambique. In 2014, the country liberalised its abortion laws to reduce the high number of maternal deaths caused by unsafe abortion. The law now allows women greater access to safe abortion care up to 12 weeks of gestation and later in certain cases such as rape, incest, and fetal anomaly. However, after so many years of women having to seek unsafe clandestine abortions, that practice still exists, and unsafe abortion remains a leading cause of maternal mortality.

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services

The bar next to one of the brothels in Beira, Mozambique, where MSF conducts health promotion activities and provides HIV care. It was badly damaged by the cyclone, forcing sex workers to find work in more risky places.

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services

Women walk in an underresourced area of Beira, Mozambique. In 2014 the country liberalized its abortion laws in order to reduce the high number of maternal deaths caused by unsafe abortion. The law now allows women greater access to safe abortion care up to 12 weeks of gestation and later in certain cases such as rape, incest, and fetal anomaly. However, after so many years of women having to seek unsafe clandestine abortions, that practice still exists and unsafe abortion remains a leading cause of maternal mortality.

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services

Since 2014, MSF has supported Beira Central Hospital (HCB) by providing clinical and laboratory assistance as well as medical care. HCB is not only a treatment center but also a teaching and research hospital. With MSF’s support, patient care has improved, and mortality rates from advanced HIV have decreased.

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services

In an MSF community clinic, a local theatre group performs a short play about the risks of not seeking HIV treatment and the stigma associated with men seeking medical care.

MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services
MSF, Doctors Without Borders, Mozambique, HIV services

In addition to offering direct medical care, MSF focused on strengthening the public health system and improving advanced HIV care. Through mentorship and workshop programs, more than 600 healthcare professionals from Beira and surrounding areas were trained and supported. This investment helped ensure that high-quality, accessible care would continue beyond MSF’s presence, and that partners are equipped for a smooth and sustainable transition.

As MSF prepares to conclude its activities at Beira’s main hospital by the end of June, a series of public events will celebrate the legacy of this work and the resilience of the communities who helped shape it. The commemorations will begin on Friday, 20 June, with a public photo exhibition at Casa dos Bicos, showcasing key moments and achievements from MSF’s 11 years of presence in the city. Through these events, MSF aims to honour the collective effort behind this project and share its story with the wider public.