The U.S. Government Donates US$1.5 Million in Medical Equipment to Enhance Quality of Services in 13 Districts

MAHAJANGA, MADAGASCAR - The American people, through our development agency the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), have donated 200 beds and mattresses and other medical materials and equipment to health centers in the Boeny and Sofia regions of northwestern Madagascar.  The donation was implemented by the USAID ACCESS health project, in partnership with Project C.U.R.E., a U.S. non-governmental organization that supplies medical equipment to developing countries.  This equipment, worth $1.5 million, also includes diagnostic tools, birthing kits, intravenous solution stands, and scales that will be dispatched to 13 districts in the regions.  The donation is part of the U.S. government’s effort to provide needed health equipment and supplies to help improve the quality of health services in Madagascar.  Previous donations were made to the Atsinanana, Analanjirofo, Vatovavy Fitovinany and Atsimo Andrefana regions.

Improving the quality of health services is a priority for the ACCESS health project, and providing medical materials and equipment is a key to improving health quality.  Rural people will particularly benefit from today’s donation, and they will have greater trust in their health centers’ capacity to deliver health care.

Focused on the most vulnerable, underserved, and poorest people in 13 of Madagascar’s 22 regions, the USAID ACCESS project aims to improve the health of the Malagasy people.  The project also supports the Ministry of Public Health in its COVID-19 response activities at national and regional levels, including infection prevention and control, surveillance, and awareness-raising efforts, strengthening national coordination, and support to vaccine roll-out.

The U.S. government and the Government of Madagascar are working together like “mpirahalahy mianala” to improve the capacity and quality of health care in Madagascar.   The U.S. government remains the largest single-country donor to Madagascar's health sector, providing $74.5 million in 2020 alone to fund USAID’s health projects.  These projects reduce Madagascar's maternal and child mortality, provide access to potable water and sanitation, protect communities from malaria, improve access to family planning, ensure a reliable supply chain of vital health care supplies and medication, and reinforce the national community health policy.