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Madagascar - Health

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Although there are public and private hospitals in Antananarivo, they can only handle routine operations. Complex surgery requires evacuation either to Mauritius, South Africa or La Reunion. Make sure you have adequate travel health insurance and accessible funds to cover the cost of any medical treatment abroad and repatriation.

Vaccine-Preventable Diseases:

Hepatitis A, hepatitis B, typhoid, yellow fever, rabies, meningitis, polio, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR), Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis), chickenpox, shingles, pneumonia and influenza are recommended for travelers to most regions.

If coming from continental Africa, yellow fever and cholera vaccination certificates will be required.

Food and Water Concerns:

Any meat or dairy products may be destroyed.

All water should be regarded as being potentially contaminated and should be boiled before its use in any form, or drink bottled water, and avoid ice in drinks.

Mosquito-Borne Diseases:

Malaria risk, predominantly in the malignant falciparum form, exists all year throughout the country and is highest in coastal areas. Resistance to chloroquine has been reported. The recommended prophylaxis is mefloquine.

Other Diseases:

It must also be noted that Madagascar has the highest number of cases of bubonic plague in the world (500 annually) including some fatalities. Outbreaks of plague tend to occur during the rainy season.

High levels of syphilis have been recorded

Emergencies:

If you need emergency medical assistance during your trip, dial 17 (117 from mobile phone) or +261 20 22 357 53 and ask for an ambulance. You should contact your insurance/medical assistance company promptly if you are referred to a medical facility for treatment.

Last updated:  April 2023

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Madagascar was last updated 2 years ago.

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  1. April 19, 2023 at 8:25 PM
    profile photo
    Sue Richards says:

    Madagascar’s maritime borders still remain closed to yachts, however, with a newly appointed Minis-ter of Transport yachts may now make an application to enter in advance. Bryce of Catamaran “Lady Blue” reports; “Just wanted to let you know that we are currently in Sainte Marie, Madagascar. We arrived on the 10th of April and we plan to cruise towards Nosy Be while making a few stops underway (i.e. Diego Suarez). A few weeks before leaving Mauritius (last port of call) I wrote to APMF in order to request permission to enter into the territory of Madagascar. After 2 weeks of waiting time and me chasing, the local authority replied positively to my request and so we received the authorization letter. We are the only foreign yacht cruising in the area as of now.” Find out more at Madagascar Biosecurity. https://noonsite.wccstaging.com/place/madagascar/view/bio-security/#

  2. December 7, 2022 at 2:16 PM
    rightchoice says:

    I planned a visit to Port Dauphin in November 2022. There were rumours that despite Madagascar being recently open to flights and cruise ship visitors, that it was closed to private boating from abroad. We contacted the embassy in London to be told that they ‘are not aware of any restriction for visiting boats’.
    We cancelled are visit however, after harbour staff in Le Port, La Reunion, said that we definitely could not go there (except in an emergency) and he said that he had spoken to several boats that had been refused access in the last month or so.
    I just spoke to someone who had cause to seek shelter there for weather and was carefully monitored to prevent shore access and given a military escort away from the country when the weather improved.

  3. December 7, 2022 at 2:08 PM
    rightchoice says:
  4. September 27, 2018 at 2:34 PM
    Data Entry3 says:

    The 30-day visa into Madagascar is no longer free. As far as we can tell we were treated fairly in all of our dealings with the officials when we cleared into Ambodifotatra.

    First, we went to the police station who act as Immigration. The 30-day visa cost 115,000 Ariary each person. We paid this to the officer plus 40,000 for a taxi. He took the passports, and one copy of our two copies of the exit zarpe (clearance) from Réunion. We went back at the time he suggested the next day and he returned the passports with the visas attached. I don’t know where the copy of the Réunion exit paper went… he said it is no longer required.

    We still DID have to go to Îsle Madame (the fishing harbour) to see the Customs office. This is well within walking distance for this old geezer. It is in the first building you come across, like an abandoned hotel. The office is in the west wing, access from the north, outside. There we filled in a crew list/boat info sheet of paper and paid 60,000. We asked him if it was really necessary to visit the Coast Guard office just 20 metres away to the west and while considering it finally said we should.

    There at the Coast Guard, we paid another 60,000 and filled out another vessel and crew info sheet.

    That is what is required to check in when asking for a 30-day visa. I’ll come back to post again when we check out domestically on Monday to tell you what we did.

  5. May 22, 2015 at 1:49 PM
    Data Entry3 says:

    The Madagascar relay station for the Peri-Peri net has now closed. Although no longer resident in Madagascar, Ex-Net Controllers Des and Nell Cason of SY Gambit are happy to offer advice to cruisers visiting the country. They have sailed this area extensively and welcome the opportunity to stay involved in the well being of fellow sailors. Contact them by E-mail at sygambit(at)Gmail(dot)com

  6. August 21, 2014 at 5:57 AM
    Data Entry3 says:

    Just a word of caution, we are in Deigo Suarez, Madagascar in the commercial port anchorage and had an intruder on our boat around 0200. He was trying to steal our portable generator. He had a knife and was able to cut the lines securing it before he was scared off the boat. He had a friend waiting for him in a small dugout outrigger. He also stole lines off the boat. So please be very careful here.