Support of the Andzaha Health Association in Madagascar since 2014

Andzaha Santé

Since 2014, the Hospitaller Order of Saint-Gabriel has been supporting "Andzaha Santé", a humanitarian association that runs a Solidarity Health Center for Mothers / Children in Madagascar on the island of Sainte-Marie. The objective of this Health Cluster is to strengthen the few health facilities already in place to provide quality care to the 27,000 inhabitants of the island.

This project is necessary because the inhabitants of Sainte-Marie are too far from the capital to hope to drain the meager subsidies of the Malagasy government and too small to interest large NGOs. Only private initiatives like Andzaha Health associated with the Hospitaller Order of St. Gabriel can help them out of isolation.

In recent months, very important progress has taken place: recruitment of a second doctor,

Purchase of a Nissan 4x4 converted into an ambulance to carry out consultations in the countryside,
Provision of a battery-powered portable ultrasound system (in addition to the room ultrasound system)
An electrocardiograph that tracks pregnant women at home.

Thanks to this equipment, the association was able to carry out a screening and training campaign with Gynecology Without Borders (GSF) in the most remote parts of the island of Sainte-Marie. All this has been made possible thanks to the Hospitaller Order of Saint Gabriel which has invested with Andzaha since the beginning of the project.

It was 10,000 € that were paid by the Order in 2015 to support the purchase of an ultrasound and an electro-cardiograph and the development of the bush ambulance. Thanks to these donations, the Andzaha clinic is acquiring, year after year, means worthy of a small modern clinic.

The result of all these actions is simply extraordinary: hundreds of women and their children are cared for each year at the PSS and medical monitoring of pregnant women and their babies has become a reality on the island. They no longer have to cross the St. Mary's Canal - where fatal accidents occur every year - to go to the Big Island, which represents for the poorest population an economy, a security and a comfort unequaled care. While progress is still to be made, the association has learned from past experiences to deliver useful services focused on the real needs of the island.

In 2016, the association will create solidarity microenterprises, based on the principle of social entrepreneurship, where economic activities will finance humanitarian and social actions to ensure their sustainability. On this peculiar and innovative approach, the Grand Master of the Order of Saint Gabriel, HE Roland de Boutechoux de Chavanes, recently met with President Gérard Hoareau to develop a strategy for joint action. The Order's 2016 funding decisions will be discussed with Ambassador Jürg Staübli, Constable of the Order of St. Gabriel, President of the Order's Gifts Commission as part of the 2016/2017 aid budget. .

The Order of St. Gabriel will make every effort to provide the association Andzaha Health with the necessary support for its success.