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“Skills to Save Lives” – Medical training
Southern Madagascar urgently needs qualified medical personnel. Our project "Skills to Save Lives" provides medical training for doctors, nurses and technical staff in one of the poorest areas of the country.
Madagascar has a serious lack of doctors, nurses and technical staff: there are only 3 trained nurses and midwives per 10,000 inhabitants. That is four times lower than the average for Sub-Saharan Africa and 40 times lower than in Germany. Doctors, too, are urgently required - every second position for a doctor is vacant. In addition, barely any doctors undergo structured, multi-year training to become specialists.
Our training programme aims to make a lasting improvement on the quality and safety of patient care in the partner facilities.
Particularly in smaller clinics and in the countryside, doctors often provide treatments for which they have been insufficiently trained. To make matters worse, the medical infrastructure in rural areas is in disrepair - another unfortunate result of political crises which have unsettled Madagascar for some years. Many health centres and hospitals have closed over the past years, and many valuable medical specialists have left the country.
Sustainability and long-term thinking are key factors for Doctors for Madagascar. Training for local medical staff, with standardised procedures for different medical interventions, is crucial in this regard. This way, the quality and safety of patient-centred care in the south of the county is improved for the long term, and trained personnel in the region benefit from better career prospects - a reason for them to stay.
The project is evaluated on a yearly basis by a team at the renowned Charité hospital in Berlin. There they identify the project’s current achievements and potential areas for improvement.
The staff meeting every morning is a good opportunity to learn together.
A two-week hygiene course for one nurse costs approximately 75€. Advanced training for an x-ray-technician in the capital costs around 500€.
PROJECTS
17.03.2016
80% of Madagascans live in extreme poverty. As there is no universal health insurance, Doctors for Madagascar covers the medical costs for patients who otherwise could not afford medical care.
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17.11.2015
Doctors for Madagascar organises regular aid missions with volunteer doctors and medical staff from Europe. These volunteers treat patients directly and also provide training for local staff.
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01.10.2015
Southern Madagascar urgently needs qualified medical personnel. Our project "Skills to Save Lives" provides medical training for doctors, nurses and technical staff in one of the poorest areas of the country.
read more
01.09.2015
Pregnant women with severe labour complications often only reach a clinic after traveling for hours on an oxcart – with serious consequences for them and their child. Most have no access to pre-natal care. Doctors for Madagascar is working to improve care for pregnant women and newborns.
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17.08.2015
In Madagascar, patients are generally fed and cared for by their families. So that food shortages don't get in the way of treatment, Doctors for Madagascar covers the subsistence costs of all in-patients in our partner hospitals.
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17.07.2015
Many hospital buildings and health centres in Madagascar are in a desperate state, with no money for even the simplest repairs. Doctors for Madagascar supports hospitals and health centres to build and renovate essential facilities.
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17.06.2015
Kept in good condition, hospital equipment saves lives. But extreme climates, inconsistent electricity and inadequate maintenance in Africa wear out medical equipment much faster than in the UK. We provide not only medical equipment, but also training on maintenance and care.
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CLOSE UP
FUNDRAISING EVENTS
The Junges Ensemble Berlin, one of Germany’s leading youth orchestras, bewitched its audience with Beethoven’s masterful violin concerto and Prokofiev’s fiery Fifth Symphony. What an evening at the Berlin Philharmonic!
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FUNDRAISING EVENTS
Since 2012, Doctors for Madagascar has been an NGO partner at Praxis Update, a continuing medical education conference for GPs.
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PATIENT STORIES
Today a mother came into the hospital carrying a baby – one week old with ashen skin and a belly distended like a barrel.
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BEYOND MEDICINE
For a long time, relatives cooked meals for patients on traditional open fires in the wasteland outside the hospital site.
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PATIENT STORIES
April 2012: Sweaty and shivering with exertion, two oxen drag a heavily laden cart the last few metres to Fotadrevo hospital. The passenger, Tiana, has a 40°C fever and is nine months pregnant.
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MISSION REPORTS
Financing an aid mission yourself? Yes, it’s possible - Johannes Häußermann is the proof, with his crowdfunding drive "An Engineer for Madagascar".
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BACKGROUND
Developing countries have seen dramatic improvements in many areas over the last 15 years.
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BACKGROUND
Madagascar stands apart from sub-Saharan African nations with regard to HIV/AIDS rates. Why?
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PATIENT STORIES
The sun burns hot on 7th December 2012. One of Médecins Sans Frontières’ white 4x4s pulls into the gate of the hospital in Fotadrevo, carrying three women from the town of Bekily, 60 km away.
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ON THE GROUND
Nine hours’ worth of parched land pass by our 4x4 as we travel from Toliara to Fotadrevo. Cacti, shrubs, scant trees and now and then a village of mud huts. Sand and dust reach as far as the eye can see, in shades of red, brown and grey.
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