In Mwanza, Zalewa and Dedza, three towns in western Malawi known as transport hubs, the presence of truck drivers, seasonal and industrial workers attracts a lot of sex workers who openly offer their services in hotspots and drinking venues, and often live together in accommodation next to bars in exchange for providing services.
In Mwanza and Dedza districts, and Zalewa in Neno district, MSF uses the ‘one-stop’ clinic approach combined with outreach services targeted towards sex workers who offer their services openly and often work and live together in rented accommodation near transport hubs or at hotspots and bars.
Community health workers – themselves sex workers who have been recruited from their local communities and trained - conduct weekly health promotion sessions at different sites where they provide condoms and lubricant, and facilitate door-to-door HIV testing services (HTS) with a trained counsellor.
The MSF community health workers identify new sex workers or those in need of medical care and navigate them towards MSF’s ‘one-stop’ clinics in nearby Ministry of Health centres in the three sites. Here, MSF clinicians offer a comprehensive package of HIV care plus sexual and reproductive healthcare, all offered in a single visit. MSF has reached approximately 3851 sex workers across these three sites.