Linked to increasing immunisation coverage with vaccines such as the pentavalent, Madagascar is one of just six countries in the world to reduce its child mortality rates by more than 60% between 1990 and 2009.

  • An ox and cart pass a health clinic at Ambovombe in southern Madagascar. With 80% of the population living in rural areas and an average annual income per capita of just US$ 410 in 2010, maintaining a functioning health system is a challenge.
  • A dirt road leads up to the health clinic at Ankariera in southern Madagascar. Many of the women who brought their children for immunisation on 17 May 2011 had walked 18 kilometres, braving cattle-rustlers and bandits.
  • Hantamalala Ramanandraibe immunises a child with a GAVI-supported vaccine, the pentavalent vaccine, at the health post in Ankariera. Vaccine-preventable diseases kill 1.7 million children every year, accounting for roughly 20% of all under five child mortality.
  • UNICEF staff in blue t-shirts mingle with visiting journalists and mothers waiting to immunise their children at Ankariera. UNICEF is a key member of the GAVI Alliance, helping them to reduce vaccine prices as the world’s largest purchaser of vaccines for developing countries.
  • Hantamalala Ramanandraibe checks an immunisation record at a health point in Ankariera. According to WHO / UNICEF data, Madagascar’s immunisation coverage rose to 78% in 2009 from 57% in 2001.
  • Child sleeps while strapped to its mother’s back at a health point in southern Madagascar before starting the journey home after vaccination with the pentavalent vaccine.
  • Clarette Raharimanjaka, a midwife, holds up a vial of pentavalent vaccine – “Easyfive” – that protects against five life-threatening diseases – diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type B (HiB).
  • Doctor Hanintsoa Rakotoarimanga checks a mother’s immunisation record before giving the pentavalent vaccine at a health point in Isotry, a district of Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo.
  • Eulalie Rasoarlalao and her four-month-old baby girl, Francia, smile for the camera following immunisation at a health point in Isotry, Antananarivo.
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Last updated: 27 Sep 2019