Antananarivo - US Ambassador Niels Marquardt presided over a ceremony for the official launch of three health-related programs providing 31 grants, totaling $1,700,000, to NGOs and civil society organizations under the US Agency for International Development's (USAID) SanteNet2 program.
The first category of grants, worth $1.6 million, will support the implementation of the Kaominina Mendrika Salama approach. This program will assist 240 communes in nine regions throughout Madagascar in implementing a community-based service package, including nutrition, reproductive health, family planning, malaria control, sexually transmitted infections, HIV/AIDS, and water and sanitation.
The Religious Leaders and Faith-based organizations Platform (PLEROC), a group of nine faith-based organizations, will receive the second category of grants totaling $50,000 to promote health-related messages.
These faith-based organizations will disseminate the messages in churches, temples, and mosques in 422 KM Salama thus contributing to the achievement of the millennium development goals.
The third category of grants, in the amount of $50,000, supports the fight against HIV/AIDS by targeting associations working with groups most at risk, including sex workers and men having sex with men. This program will improve access to health services for a total of 15,000 people at risk in the cities of Taolagnaro, Fianarantsoa, Antananarivo, Toamasina, and Toliara.
In his remarks, Ambassador Marquardt reiterated the US Government's commitment to improving the health of the Malagasy people.