Primary Health Care in Action Madagascar in numbers1 - Life
expectancy (both sexes, 2006): 59 years - Gross National Product
per capita (PPP in international $, 2006): 870 - Per capita
total expenditure on health (PPP in international $, 2005): 33 -
Number of physicians (per 10 000 population, 2005): 3 MADAGASCAR
PRIMARY HEALTH DRIVE ACHIEVES MIXED RESULTS2 - Life expectancy
has increased since 1990, polio has been eradicated and infant
mortality is declining - Islanders have never been more
motivated to look after their health - Only 60–70% of the
population has ready access to primary health care services -
Health centres in a poor state of disrepair When the first batch
of 1500 young health aides was dispatched in 1980 to
Madagascar’s villages, it was thought to herald a new era in
health care for the island nation off the south-east coast of
Africa. The project was the centrepiece of the country’s primary
health care programme, launched in 1978 with high hopes of
meeting the Alma-Ata goal of providing hea