ABCM

Assessing and Building Capacities: Madagascar's public health system

Context

Madagascar is facing significant institutional and structural challenges in its public health system, due to limited resources and capacities, contributing to the burden of disease in the country. With the numerous epidemics and pandemics caused by polio, plague and, in recent times, COVID-19, the current infrastructure and workforce are overstretched, limiting Madagascar’s ability to adequately prepare for, respond to and recover from such public health threats. The severe adverse effects of climate change – including cyclones, floods and drought – further increase the pressure on the health system, as there is a high prevalence of malnutrition and childhood disease. The Ministry of Health in Madagascar has officially requested the support of the RKI to develop a Centre for Disease Control and help build capacities for the diagnostics of tropical infectious diseases in the country, in particular malaria, plague and other vector-borne diseases. To achieve this, the Ministry of Health, the RKI and the BNITM are collaborating to jointly develop and implement a roadmap designed to strengthen and increase the resilience of the Malagasy public health system. The project aims to strengthen the public health workforce by promoting scientific exchanges and institutional collaboration, which will ultimately benefit the Malagasy population as a whole.

Objective

Assessing Madagascar’s public health system and strengthening its diagnostic capacity.

In Cooperation With

  • Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire de Bouaké (CHU Bouaké), Côte d’Ivoire
  • Alassane Ouattara University (UAO), Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Côte d’Ivoire
  • Helmholtz-Institut für One Health (HIOH), Deutschland

Thematic priorities

  • Infection prevention and control
  • Laboratory diagnostics
  • Strengthening of public health systems
  • Surveillance and reporting

Facts

Duration

01.01.2023 - 31.12.2025

Budget

ca. 2,000,000 EUR

Project Countries

  • Madagascar

Implementing Institution

Robert Koch Institute

Contact

Dr. Charbel El Bcheraoui; Dr. Sabrina Weiß
Robert Koch-Institut (RKI)
Nordufer 20, 13353 Berlin, Deutschland

El-BcheraouiC@rki.de
WeissS@rki.de

Download Fact Sheet

Activities

  • Capacity development

    Developing a roadmap to strengthen and increase the resilience of the system; developing an inclusive One Health approach for the diagnosis and surveillance of tropical infectious diseases in Madagascar; strengthening diagnostic capacities and introducing new methods

  • Research and provision of evidence

    Assessing the needs of Madagascar’s public health system with the involvement of relevant Malagasy stakeholders and networks; conducting a study to assess core public health functions, such as public health surveillance, emergency response, outbreak response and risk communication