HEALTH EDUCATION AND
INFRASTRUCTURE SUPPORT
We support community health through training and equipment for Community Health Agents and crucially health centre infrastructure improvements
The health crisis in Madagascar is dire, with half of children under five suffering from chronic malnutrition and one in five children under the age of five dying as a result of diarrhoeal diseases.
Outbreaks of diseases like Bubonic Plague and Tuberculosis, which have been eradicated in developed countries, are also common. The rural health service in Madagascar is extremely basic and often far away, with medicines in short supply and misdiagnosis prevalent.
Many people turn to traditional medicines and unreliable cures, which can make their conditions worse rather than better.
Recognizing the dire need for improved health services in Madagascar, Feedback Madagascar prioritizes health in their work. Our organization's first fundraising efforts were to purchase medicines for the hospital in Ranomafana.
By addressing health first, Feedback Madagascar not only saves and improves lives but also builds trust and creates goodwill in the communities they work with, paving the way for future projects with less visible but longer-term benefits.
We support community health through training and equipment for Community Health Agents and health center infrastructure improvements. We have trained 2,500 Health Agents and 728 Traditional Birth Attendants to reduce infant and mother mortality.
We have also built hundreds of hygienic latrines and upgraded 15 Community Health Centers. They integrate their health programs with their agricultural ones to improve diets and nutrition.
The Community Health Agents, all local volunteers, learn about and teach Family Planning, Maternal and Child Health, Safe Motherhood, Malaria and Tuberculosis Control and Management, Nutrition, and Hygiene. They diagnose and refer as many disease cases to hospitals as possible and increase referrals to the many health centers that Feedback Madagascar has upgraded and staffed.
Their work has had a huge impact on the everyday lives of their communities, and they have also helped launch new initiatives such as a youth advisory service for reproductive health and family planning, a community-led "Total Sanitation" campaign, and a massive anti-malaria campaign, distributing nearly 300,000 impregnated mosquito nets across 140 different sites within 28 communes in 2 districts in just 2 weeks, by mobilizing 598 people.
We have also be focused on rebuilding cyclone proof health centers, providing a safe and sustaibale infrastrucutre as cyclone get more furocious and frequent in Madagascar
Ankarimbelo’s health centre being rebuilt post-cyclone.
Baby being weighed by health workers