Madagascar is listed among the most vulnerable countries in the world regarding malnutrition, food insecurity, health care services, and availability of clean water sources. People are facing extremely dire life conditions. Only one per cent of the population has access to essential healthcare services. Furthermore, there needs to be more dental care services due to the complete absence of qualified medical personnel. At present, 280 public and 182 private dental care premises are in operation all over Madagascar, i.e. one dentist over 40.000 patients, while the official OMS recommendations indicate the ratio of one dentist over 5.000 patients. (80% of children under six years and 98% of adults face dental problems due to the high costs of required treatment).
Butterfly Foundation decided to comply with the request of its local partner Aid4Mada, based in Madagascar for ten years and managing the local primary school of Epp Tanambao Morafeno and its canteen, to implement a medical and sanitary centre dedicated to 1.700 children and their parents.
The project foresees the implementation of:
- Two duly furnished rooms are available for medical assessments and relevant therapies related to the children’s health conditions or recovery before/after hospitalization.
- One completely equipped room for dental and ophthalmic treatments
- One sanitary unit with two wc and showers
- Medicines stock for two years of operation
- One waiting room
- Fencing of the building to guarantee the patient’s privacy
The project intends to guarantee :
- Access to medical care and treatment to the 1700 students of the school as well as to their parents
- Daily control of the malnutrition status of the children and regular screening of their health conditions
- Dental and ophthalmic assistance and treatment by local duly trained staff and voluntary foreign doctors and ultrasound technicians
- Recovery before or after severe hospitalization cases
The project will be completed within four months from the funds availability date, and its total implementation cost is €.€. 88.583. (The foundation’s local partner, Air 4Mada, will provide ten per cent of such an amount)