Field Actions Science Reports (Nov 2012)
The feasibility of community-based private medical practice in Africa and Madagascar
Abstract
An ever-growing number of doctors are being trained at the Faculties of Medicine of French-speaking Africa and Madagascar, and yet the shortage of general practitioners in rural and periurban areas continues to be a cause for concern, even though there are more unemployed young medical graduates than ever. More than 20 years ago, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Santé Sud developed the concept of community-based general medicine, along with a professional mechanism that enabled more than 200 doctors to set up practice in Mali, Madagascar and Benin. Five external assessments are now available for evaluating the relevance and feasibility of this new form of local healthcare provision and determining under what conditions it might be extended or integrated into existing healthcare systems. The creation of mixed public/private bodies, with funding allocated under the International Health Partnership (IHP+), is put forward as a desirable way of spreading this experience.
