Evaluation of Eshowe HIV Project

Since 2011, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have been supporting the Government of South Africa’s efforts to “bend the HIV epidemic curves downwards” in reducing morbidity and mortality in an area of the country with some of the highest incidence and prevalence rates of HIV. The Bending the Curves catalytic project, sought to demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of ambitious strategies for testing, treatment and prevention of HIV and TB in Eshowe and Mbongolwane, in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), representing semi-urban and rural settings, respectively. The project’s wider objectives concerned influencing policy change and lessons for facilitating HIV management in South Africa and other MSF HIV projects in similar contexts.

This evaluation focused on the effectiveness and replicability aspects of the HIV interventions between 2013 and 2018. The research design adopted a realist evaluation model as it examines outcomes generated by mechanisms in specific contexts.