Celebrating Contributions to Development in Madagascar as Health Policy Plus Ends its Tenure
From November 2015 to the summer of 2022, the Health Policy Plus (HP+) project worked in Madagascar with a focus on ending preventable maternal and child deaths, securing access to healthcare and financial protection for the population, and addressing unmet need for family planning. On July 1, 2022, in Antananarivo, the project celebrated these almost seven years with an end-of-project event attended by the general director of the National Institute of Public and Community Health, which falls within the Madagascar Ministry of Public Health; several directors of ministerial health departments; the director of planning for the Ministry of Economy and Finance; the USAID Madagascar Mission team; and several experts from HP+, including the global director of the project via video.
HP+ Madagascar country director Dr. Paul Richard Ralainirina presented the many results HP+ has helped the country to achieve over the past seven years, highlighting the role of government, civil society, and other key partners. Technical staff from HP+ and USAID led three panel discussions on political and strategic frameworks for health systems, increased mobilization of domestic resources to achieve health objectives, and enabling rights-based reproductive health and family planning services as a key to Madagascar’s progress in development. The event was an opportunity to discuss challenges, lessons learned, and best practices to employ in future activities. Most importantly, the stakeholders gathered at the event had the chance to discuss visions and directives for the future, with an eye toward ensuring the sustainability of the results achieved.
Randy Chester, acting mission director of USAID/Madagascar, spoke directly to improving reproductive health policy and advancing development: “We can celebrate the progress of the interventions that we have all carried out together and the key results of the HP+ project in reforming the policies and strategies of the different sectors involved in improving the health conditions and well-being of the population of Madagascar, especially women and children, and which contribute, among other things, to the development of the country.”
Among specific achievements supported by HP+ was the revision and passage of an updated rights-based law on reproductive health and family planning and the strengthening of the capacities of civil society organizations, youth networks, journalists, and government ministries to spread information about the new law. Relatedly, HP+ helped stakeholders to apply the Demographic Dividend model to support evidence-based advocacy in favor of the government’s investment in interventions for youth, family planning, education, and the economy. Dr. Suneeta Sharma, HP+ project director, mentioned both accomplishments in her videotaped remarks: “From our work to revise and help stakeholders advocate for the 2018 reproductive health and family planning law to our partnership with the Ministry of Public Health to promote universal health coverage and our work with the Ministry of Economy and Finance to form and lead the country’s demographic dividend team, we have seen remarkable results.”
Other important results covered at the meeting were a Health Sector Development Plan (2020–2024), a National Strategic Plan for Community Health (2010–2030), a toolkit for implementing universal health coverage, and a Costed Implementation Plan for Family Planning.
Dr. Vololoniaina Rasoanandrasana, head of the Safe Motherhood and Family Planning unit at the Ministry of Public Health, noted that journalists play an important role in raising awareness across Madagascar of new policies and rights that result from family planning advocacy. “We have seen through [the journalists’] reporting the different situations with early marriage in rural areas. It is important to strengthen the awareness-raising efforts that the Ministry of Public Health and its partners are already making in communities and districts in favor of family planning… including [reducing] the number of very early pregnancies… and also to strengthen awareness-raising among young people about access to reproductive health services.” HP+ has worked closely with journalists to strengthen their capacity to report on topics related to rights-based family planning; two journalists attended the event in person.
Pâquerette Hanitriniala Sahondranirina, general director of the National Institute of Public and Community Health, called on the meeting participants to keep working toward the goals the country set with USAID and HP+: “I am delighted because, although this day marks the closing phase of the project, it is still a great opportunity, because it signifies that we are still together and ready to work cooperatively for the good cause of health and well-being of the Malagasy population, which is a guarantee of sustainable development of the country.”
