We address critical health challenges in Madagascar by empowering local partners and communities, helping people to help themselves.
Madagascar, an East African island nation and home to around 29 million people, is one of the world’s least developed countries. Despite its natural beauty and resources, it struggles to provide adequate health care to its population
Challenges
The Malagasy health system confronts widespread challenges at every level of care.
Accessing Care
Poor road conditions, especially during the rainy season, severely affect the population’s ability to access healthcare. In the absence of a reliable public transport system patients travel long distances by oxcart or on foot, delaying their access to healthcare.
Poverty
Weaknesses in the government’s budget system force health centres to depend on direct payments from patients. With over 80% of Madagascar’s population living in extreme poverty, patients are often unable to afford the associated costs.
Infrastructure
Health centres struggle with a lack of essential resources, such as clean water and electricity. This results in poor quality patient care and a concerning lack of hygiene.
Quality of Care
Health facilities in Madagascar suffer from frequent interruptions in the supply of essential medications, a lack of medical staff, and inadequate training of health workers. As a result, the quality of patient care is extremely poor.
Our approach
To address these challenges comprehensively, we work on all levels of the health system to improve patient care.
Quality of Care
To improve the quality of medical care we train doctors, nurses, and technical staff on patient care, facility management, and equipment maintenance. We also provide direct support to health facilities, donating essential medical equipment and assisting with renovations. Additionally, we enable access to sustainable solar energy for CSBs and hospitals.
Our impact to date
3,000+
Health workers trained
90
Health centres provided with essential medical equipment
39
Health centres benefited from infrastructure improvements
Financial Inclusion
Approximately 80% of the population in Madagascar live in extreme poverty and financial reasons are the main reason for not accessing healthcare.
We provide financial assistance to patients who would otherwise not be able to afford the treatment they need. We also build resilience and improve the financial situation of patients and their families. We focus on pregnant women, children under 5, patients without family support, people with disabilities and accident victims.
Our impact to date
>50,000
Over 50,000 patients directly supported with costs of care, preventing medical impoverishment
Maternal and Child Health
Madagascar’s neonatal and maternal mortality rates are high — around 400 women die every year for every 100,000 births. We work on three main axes to change this alarming situation:
Health knowledge
Working with community health workers, radio, local singers and dancers, we increase communities’ awareness of key health issues.
Mobile clinics
We offer mobile antenatal care clinics that include ultrasound services. Every day we visit different villages to detect and monitor high-risk pregnancies.
Emergency referrals
For maternal and child health emergencies, we provide free ambulance transport to reference hospitals.
Our impact to date
295,000+
Antenatal care visits
57,000+
Antenatal ultrasound scans
2,000+
Emergency ambulance evacuations
Infectious Diseases
We work with local health centres to provide infectious disease care to vulnerable populations. Since 2018, we have been providing TB care in remote villages in the Atsimo-Andrefana region. As a result, the number of people with TB detected and treated in the area has increased dramatically. We further support TB care centres with vital infrastructure and training.
Our impact to date
1,400+
Mobile clinics for TB
20,000+
People tested for TB
9,000+
People enrolled for TB treatment
Vaccination
Access to lifesaving childhood vaccinations is extremely limited: communities lack essential knowledge about childhood vaccinations and live far away from health centres that offer vaccination services. Health centres in turn lack essential equipment and knowledge. We focus on improving vaccination services holistically across the rural south of Madagascar.
Our impact to date
3,500+
Villages screened for zero-dose children
370+
Heart centers included in a structured service availability assessment
Collaboration with
16
District health authorities
Nutritional Support
