Project Name：Project for Strengthening Metabolic Chronic Disease Prevention and Control Systems in the Kingdom of Eswatini

Project status：Projects in Operation

Cooperating Country：Kingdom of Eswatini

Project Description：

In recent years, the prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has significantly increased in Eswatini. In fact, the nation’s Client Management Information System (CMIS) reveals that more than 90% of EmaSwati report having one or more risk factors for a metabolic syndrome. According to 2021 population estimates, approximately 182,665 people were living with hypertension and 105,871 more were living with diabetes, among other metabolic chronic diseases. These figures demonstrate the high societal burden of these conditions and indicate the need for an urgent halt to their increase. Based on Taiwanese experience in the prevention and control of NCDs and in response to Eswatini’s needs, the TaiwanICDF and National Taiwan Hospital University Hsin-Chu Branch (NTUH Hsin-Chu Branch) will jointly work with the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Eswatini to target the country’s two most densely populated areas, the Manzini and Hhohho regions, with a health care initiative addressing these conditions. This project aims to assist the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini in enhancing its health care facilities in order to strengthen metabolic chronic disease prevention and control systems. Its contents include:

A. Enhancing the policy-forming capabilities for metabolic chronic disease prevention and control.

B.  Strengthening the capacity of prevention and treatment of diabetes and hypertension at the health facility level.

C. Raising the awareness of metabolic chronic disease prevention among the population at the community level.

Implementation Start Date：2024-09-04

Implementation End Date：2027-12-31

Project Objectives：

The objectives of this project are:

A. Enhancing the policy-forming capabilities for metabolic chronic disease prevention and control.

 a. Invite two MoH officials who are in charge of health policy planning to visit Taiwan to understand Taiwan’s policies and practices for the prevention and control of metabolic chronic diseases.
 b. Assist the MoH in conducting a secondary analysis of the data.
 c. Conduct at least one conference related to the prevention and control of metabolic chronic diseases

B. Strengthening the capacity of prevention and treatment of diabetes and hypertension at the health facility level.
 a. Upgrade screening capacities for diabetes and hypertension in the targeted health facilities
 b. Enrich the capacity of health personnel in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes and hypertension

C. Raising the awareness of metabolic chronic disease prevention among the population at the community level.
 a. Build the capacity of rural health motivators (RHMs)­ and strengthen self-awareness in high-risk groups
 b. Raise public awareness of metabolic chronic disease prevention at the community level.

Implementation Arrangement：

Members of the Project will provide technical assistance and assistance for capacity building.

Current Progress：

To the end of December 2025, the following activities have been carried out:

1.Collaborated with the Ministry of Health (MoH) of Eswatini to complete the first draft of the "Secondary Analysis of Chronic Disease Risk Factors" report. The "Eswatini Community Screening Data Analysis Research" has been officially submitted to the National Health Research Review Board (NHRRB) for ethical review.

2.Completed the procurement and distribution of medical equipment and consumables. Conducted 13 equipment operation training sessions, training a total of 166 clinical staff members.

3.Successfully integrated AI-assisted Ophthalmoscope for diagnostic support in 6 partner hospitals. A total of 1,060 diabetic retinopathy screenings were completed, resulting in the referral of 270 high-risk cases.

4.Completed professional training for 14 seed instructors at the National Taiwan University Hospital Hsinchu Branch (NTUH Hsinchu).

5.Conducted 47 in-service training sessions (training 1,161 healthcare professionals) and 6 clinical training workshops (training 186 clinical staff members).

6.Partnered with the MoH and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to establish 2 chronic disease screening teams. Trained 246 community health volunteers (CHVs) and completed a cumulative total of 26,242 community screening services.

7.Organized 2 large-scale health advocacy events, including the "World Diabetes Day" high-level event co-hosted by the ROC (Taiwan) Ambassador and the Minister of Health of Eswatini, reaching over 700 attendees.

8.Conducted 81 weekly routine chronic disease health education radio broadcasts and published 16 newspaper columns. Distributed 105,000 health education leaflets and 180 posters.

Project Performance：

Strengthening Eswatini's Metabolic Chronic Disease Prevention and Control System

Project Contact：Eunice Laio

Phone：+886 2873-2323#6066

E-mail：l.c.liao@icdf.org.tw

Mission：Taiwan Technical Mission in the Kingdom of Eswatini (Former Swaziland)