Our Work in Madagascar
Madagascar is challenged by high rates of poverty. Families typically reside in remote areas, sometimes served by medical missions. We’re partnering so families can access cleft care year-round.
Rural families accessing cleft care gather for a meal at the clinic’s accommodation grounds.
Cleft Care in Madagascar Today
As a remote island nation with a strained healthcare system, Madagascar has largely relied on fly-in surgical missions as the only source of cleft care. This stopgap solution became particularly problematic during the COVID pandemic when international travel came to a halt and children could not even access surgical care, let alone any long-term follow-up.
In 2021, we started a partnership with Clinique Santé Plus with aspirations to solve this problem by collaborating on the nation’s first Comprehensive Cleft Care centre. Santé Plus is working to ensure children have access to permanent, ongoing care locally and advocating for the importance of a comprehensive approach within the communities they operate.
You can hear more about the historical impacts of the surgical mission approach in Madagascar, and how we’re partnering to deliver CCC in Madagascar in this podcast.
Fast Facts
- Population: 29,612,000
- Capital: Antananarivo
- Below Poverty Line: 80%
- Cleft Incidence: 480+/ year
Key Challenges
Newborn Nutrition
Malnutrition is a common occurrence for babies in Madagascar, a problem amplified by frequent natural disasters. A healthy weight must be achieved for safe cleft surgery.
Community Engagement
Awareness of cleft and about the availability of local, comprehensive care is still very limited with many families waiting on missions for treatment.
Transportation Assistance
With only one comprehensive centre in the entire country, families require support to travel long distances and face lost wages.
Program Successes
Children accessed Comprehensive Cleft Care at our partner hospital in 2022
Team members currently support a full Circle of Care for families, a marked increase since launching the project with a single specialist in 2021
Nurses/midwives trained in speech therapy with our support, a specialty with no formal training program currently available in-country
“Traditionally, Malagasy families have had to pay 2 or 3 months' salary just for their child's surgery. Without access to no-cost Comprehensive Cleft Care, treatment is out of the question for them.”
- Dr. Nirina Mandrano, Cleft Surgeon
Stories of Success
Laced and Andry were overjoyed to be expecting another child. Would their daughter, Sarobidy, have a little brother or sister? Yet beneath the excitement, a quiet unease lingered. Joy filled the room when Marcella was born, but it was fleeting. Laced and Andry’s midwife had news. It was the very fear that had weighed on their hearts. Marcella was born with a cleft palate, just…
Naly was born with a cleft palate. His parents were acquainted with the challenges this poses for feeding and eventually for clear speech – a cousin was also affected by cleft years earlier. Like their relatives, they felt that they had nowhere to turn. When Naly was 18 months old, the family learned that a surgical…
In many communities, unhelpful beliefs about cleft are burdensome for families. For parents, their minds are busied with questions of “why” this has happened to them and what caused this condition to affect their family. With the right support from a dedicated cleft team, families can overcome the noise and fears to help their children…
Our Partners in Cleft Care
TC has been supporting partners in Madagascar since 2021.
Our Partnerships in Madgascar
- Association Mitsiky, Fianarantsoa
- Clinique et Maternité Fanantenana, Mahajanga
- Clinique Santé Plus, Antsirabe