FENERIVE-EST – A healthy and growing population as a key to generating equitable economic growth and reducing poverty in Madagascar. The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), are improving maternal and child health in the Analanjirofo region of northeast Madagascar by donating $575,000 (MGA 2.4 billion) in medical equipment to 144 facilities and supporting training of medicine vendors to residents of remote villages without a pharmacy.
“USAID is helping Madagascar build a more self-sustaining health system, especially with respect to women and children,” USAID Senior Health Program Manager Dr. Andry Rahajarison told participants at the October 22 ceremony. “Today’s donation is the last part of our initiative to distribute essential commodities and equipment to health facilities in 14 regions of the country.”
Fénérive-Est is one of six districts in Analanjirofo where health centers and hospitals will receive new equipment, including hundreds of beds and mattresses, as well as delivery kits, neonatal resuscitation kits, and blood pressure cuffs to help ensure patients at local clinics receive quality health care services.
The donation was made possible through a partnership between USAID’s ACCESS project and the Project C.U.R.E., a U.S.-based non-governmental organization that provides health material support to developing countries. The Analanjirofo ceremony is the last in a series of donations totaling $8.2 million (MGA 34.4 billion) that began in January 2020.
Through ACCESS, USAID also donated 140 mountain bikes worth $15,000 (MGA 64 million) to support community health volunteers in Analanjirofo. This is part of a planned donation of 1,700 bikes nationwide.
On the same day, USAID also launched a nationwide series of trainings of local medicine vendors. This is a first step in professionalizing a cadre of skilled private drug vendors trained to comply with National Institute of Public and Community Health (INSPC) guidelines under a new system of accreditation across rural Madagascar.
Training is provided through the USAID-funded Improving Market Partnerships Access to Commodities Together (IMPACT) project, in collaboration with the INSPC, which oversees distribution of health commodities.
Madagascar’s Minister of Public Health Pr. Zely Randriamanantany participated in both events and acknowledged USAID’s important work to both strengthen the health system’s delivery of services and ensure a reliable health commodities supply chain throughout the country.
The U.S. government works together with Madagascar like “mpirahalahy mianala” to strengthen access to and deliver quality health services. USAID is the largest bilateral donor to Madagascar’s health sector, allocating more than $440 million since 2015 to fund health activities, including $16 million for the fight against COVID-19.