What We Do
What We Do
Our work falls into two categories that feed each other. The health areas are where we deliver direct services and save lives today. The specialisations—the technical muscle, the data, the research, the systems thinking—are what make those programmes work and what make them last.
HIV Prevention, Care & Treatment
HIV remains at the core of our mission. We provide comprehensive, integrated services across the HIV care continuum—from community-based testing and counselling through treatment initiation and lifelong adherence support. Our Adult HIV and Paediatric HIV programmes support clinical care using an integrated model that includes prevention, transition into care, treatment adherence, and Nurse-Initiated and Managed Antiretroviral Treatment (NIMART).
We have initiated over 1.1 million patients on antiretroviral therapy, tested 17 million+ people for HIV, and performed 1.6 million+ voluntary medical male circumcisions—one of the most effective biomedical prevention interventions available, reducing female-to-male transmission by up to 60%.
Our prevention portfolio also includes treatment as prevention (demonstrating a 90% reduction in transmission among discordant couples on ART), Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT), and comprehensive behaviour change education. We are actively contributing to the UNAIDS 95-95-95 targets: 95% diagnosed, 95% on treatment, 95% virally suppressed.
Men’s Health
Men remain disproportionately underserved across the HIV care cascade in sub-Saharan Africa. They test later, initiate treatment later, and are more likely to disengage from care. Right to Care has made men’s health a dedicated programme priority, recognising that closing the gender gap in treatment outcomes is essential to achieving epidemic control.
Our Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) programme is one of the largest in the world, with 1.6 million+ procedures performed. VMMC is delivered as a comprehensive package that includes HIV counselling and testing, condom provision, and education for behaviour change, with clinics optimised for high-volume throughput. Include Mastithethe – integrating traditional male initiation.
Beyond circumcision, we deploy targeted demand creation strategies to bring men into care—including workplace-based testing, community outreach tailored to male health-seeking behaviours, and differentiated service delivery models designed around men’s schedules and preferences. In South Africa, we have partnered with PSI on the Coach Mpilo model, which uses men living openly and stably with HIV as peer coaches to mentor other men struggling with barriers to treatment—achieving 98% linkage to care and 94% retention among participants.
Tuberculosis
Right to Care provides integrated TB/HIV services for both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tuberculosis. Our TB strategy employs the “3 Is” approach: Intensified case finding, INH Preventive Therapy (IPT), and Infection control in health facilities. We spearheaded the use of Cepheid GeneXpert for rapid TB diagnosis and drug resistance detection, and in 2014 supported the rollout of Bedaquiline—the first new TB drug in four decades. We provide specialised support for the diagnosis and management of Multi-Drug Resistant (MDR) and Extensively Drug-Resistant (XDR) TB, including at Sizwe Tropical Diseases Hospital in Johannesburg. In South Africa, where 59% of those diagnosed with TB are also HIV positive, our integrated TB/HIV service model ensures that patients receive coordinated, concurrent care for both conditions.
Hepatitis B & C Treatment
Recognising the growing burden of viral hepatitis, particularly among people living with HIV, Right to Care has expanded into Hepatitis B and C treatment. We are working to expand access to affordable diagnostics and direct-acting antiviral therapies to reduce chronic liver disease and prevent transmission—an area where we have contributed international research, including studies on the impact of treatment on quality of life in Ukraine through our EQUIP programme.
Cervical Cancer Screening & Treatment
Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer affecting women in South Africa. Right to Care runs effective screening and treatment programmes to detect and remove early cervical dysplastic lesions. We train medical officers to perform colposcopic biopsies and large loop electrical excisions (LLETZ)—cost-effective procedures that have dramatically improved access to treatment. Mobile clinics extend these services to remote areas. In Zambia, our USAID Action HIV project has integrated cervical cancer screening into HIV service delivery, contributing surgical equipment to the Ministry of Health and running awareness campaigns on community radio.
Sexually Transmitted Infections & Gender-Based Violence
Our STI programmes integrate diagnostics and treatment into existing HIV service platforms, while our gender-based violence response work addresses the intersection of violence, vulnerability, and health outcomes—particularly for women and key populations. We provide clinical management of STIs alongside behaviour change interventions and ensure that GBV survivors receive comprehensive medical, psychosocial, and referral services.
One Health
Public Health Emergency Response
Right to Care demonstrated its emergency response capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic, supporting the South African Department of Health with rapid testing, treatment protocols, and data infrastructure. Our GIS mapping and epidemiological modelling capabilities—developed in partnership with HE²RO and using adapted SEIR models—enabled provincial-level forecasting of disease spread, healthcare system impact, and resource requirements across all nine South African provinces.
Climate Change & Health
Maternal & Child Health
Sexual & Reproductive Health
These are the capabilities that sit behind everything we do. They are not add-ons—they are the reason our health programmes work at scale, and the reason governments and donors keep coming back to us.
Technical Assistance & Health Systems Strengthening
Right to Care’s approach to health system strengthening goes beyond programme delivery. We work at every level of the health system—national, provincial, district, and facility—to build capacity that outlasts our direct involvement. Since 2010, when we made the strategic transition from direct service delivery to a technical assistance model, we have provided comprehensive support to the South African National Department of Health primarily across Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Western Cape, and Free State.
Our technical assistance encompasses development of clinical best practices and treatment guidelines, research and implementation support, training and on-site mentoring of health professionals, participation in national and provincial technical committees, provision of facilities and equipment, secondment of specialist staff, pharmaceutical policy development (including support to the Medicines Control Council for drug registration and regulation of clinical trials), and capacity building for local health governance and financial systems. Internationally, our EQUIP consortium delivers technical assistance for rapid HIV treatment scale-up and sustainable health system strengthening across 17 countries.
Community Health & Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC)
Sustainable health outcomes require more than clinical interventions—they require shifts in awareness, attitudes, norms, and behaviours at individual and community levels. Right to Care’s Community Health and SBCC programmes operate at the interface between facilities and the communities they serve.
Our community health workers conduct HIV counselling and testing, treatment adherence support, defaulter tracing, and health education in homes, workplaces, and community gathering points. We deploy targeted demand creation strategies for underserved populations, including men, adolescent girls and young women, and key populations. Our SBCC approaches use evidence-based messaging, peer education, community dialogue, and media engagement to address stigma, promote health-seeking behaviour, and support treatment literacy. Through the Coach Mpilo model, we have demonstrated how peer-led, community-embedded behaviour change interventions can achieve 98% linkage to care for men living with HIV.
Implementation Science & Research
Right to Care’s research capacity is anchored by our founding partnership with the Clinical HIV Research Unit (CHRU) and the Health Economics and Epidemiology Research Office (HE²RO) at the University of the Witwatersrand, co-established with Boston University’s School of Public Health. Our founder, Professor Ian Sanne, serves as International Vice-Chair of the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), overseeing research at 25 international sites in 13 countries.
Our implementation science work focuses on generating real-world evidence to inform programme design and scale-up. We conduct prospective and observational research to optimise treatment strategies, improve diagnostics, and evaluate public health interventions.
Our research portfolio spans Phase I–IV clinical trials (predominantly through collaborations with NIH, EDCTP, the Global TB Alliance, and the Medical Research Council of South Africa), health economics evaluations of treatment models and interventions, epidemiological analysis of large-scale programmatic data, and evaluation of differentiated service delivery models. With over 100 peer-reviewed publications, our research has directly informed WHO guidelines, South African national treatment protocols, and global HIV/TB policy.
GIS & Data Science
Right to Care has built one of the most advanced geospatial and data science capabilities in African public health. Through Right SI (Strategic Information) and our GIS unit, we provide real-time, spatially intelligent analytics that transform how health programmes are planned, monitored, and optimised.
Our GIS capabilities include comprehensive mapping of healthcare facilities, road infrastructure, and population distribution to identify service gaps and optimise resource allocation. We use spatial analysis to track disease hotspots, model transmission patterns, and target interventions to areas of greatest need. During COVID-19, we partnered with HE²RO to deploy compartmental SEIR epidemiological models calibrated to provincial-level data across all nine South African provinces—and are extending this capability to other African countries.
Our broader data science work includes the development of “situation rooms”—near-real-time monitoring environments that use AI and machine learning to identify performance trends, flag underperforming facilities, and enable rapid programmatic intervention. QODE Health Solutions’ Knowledge Centres integrate clinical and programme data to support evidence-based decision-making at every level of the health system.
Digital Health Solutions
Right to Care is a pioneer in deploying digital health technologies to overcome the structural barriers—distance, time, workforce shortages, supply chain complexity—that prevent patients from accessing care in resource-limited settings.
Our digital health portfolio includes Right ePharmacy’s ATM pharmacies and Collect & Go Smart Lockers (robotic and electronic dispensing of chronic medication), telepharmacy services (video-linked pharmacist counselling integrated into dispensing units), digital programme monitoring platforms (real-time dashboards and analytics for programme managers), electronic patient record systems and automated SMS adherence reminders (reducing loss to follow-up), GIS-enabled facility mapping and spatial planning tools, and AI and machine learning applications for programme performance prediction and optimisation. Each of these solutions has been designed, built, and scaled within the African context—not imported from external vendors—giving us deep ownership and the ability to iterate rapidly based on user feedback and changing needs.
Public–Private Partnerships
Right to Care occupies a distinctive position at the intersection of the public and private health sectors. Our organisational structure itself reflects this: as a nonprofit managing large-scale public health programmes, we also operate Right to Care Health Services (a wholly owned subsidiary delivering corporate wellness programmes to private-sector clients) and Right Clinic (a primary healthcare initiative designed to support South Africa’s National Health Insurance system).
This dual public–private capacity enables us to design and broker partnerships between government health departments and private-sector providers, deliver employee wellness services (health screening, risk assessments, chronic disease management, occupational health, psychological/legal/financial counselling, and absenteeism management) to corporate clients, develop sustainable financing models that blend donor funding, government budgets, and private revenue, and apply private-sector efficiency and accountability standards to public health delivery. Our experience demonstrates that public–private collaboration is not merely desirable but essential for building health systems that can sustain impact beyond the lifecycle of any single donor grant.