Resource Type: Brief
Authors: Jenna Wright
Published: July 2015

Resource Description:

An Essential Package of Health Services (EPHS) can be defined as the package of services that the government is providing or is aspiring to provide to its citizens in an equitable manner.

This country snapshot is one in a series of 24 snapshots looking at the governance dimensions of Essential Packages of Health Services in the Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Death priority countries. The snapshot explores several important dimensions of the EPHS in the country, such as how government policies contribute to the service coverage, population coverage, and financial coverage of the package.

Madagascar’s EPHS is not clearly defined in policy documents or regulations. The latest heath sector policy document available is the Ministry of Public Health’s 2012–2013 Interim Plan. The government of Madagascar and its international partners agreed to draft this document because the Plan de Développement Secteur Santé (Health Sector Development Plan) 2007–2011 had expired and the government had not yet put a succeeding one in place. As a result, this document is not very comprehensive. It mentions a “Minimum Package of Activities” and “basic healthcare services,” but does not define the services that would be included under these concepts.