Access to healthcare is not a given in many countries. Sometimes, reaching a doctor is difficult due to long distances, if not impossible due to the lack of facilities, and therefore health is put in the background.
Change works on the field, in close contact with the local population to transform this situation.
We have chosen to operate mainly in Madagascar, a country that is experiencing a serious health crisis. There are currently only 0.2 hospital beds per 1,000 people*. Also from the point of view of nutrition, the country has various difficulties, ranking 10th in the world among those most affected by chronic malnutrition in 2021**. The humanitarian crisis in the country is financed by only 37.8% *** and this shows that the one in Madagascar is now a 'forgotten crisis'.
We have built a multispecialized Medical-Surgical Center, in Ampefy, in the heart of Madagascar and a health dispensary on the island of Sakatia, in the north of the country. We also deal with nutrition and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), carrying out awareness campaigns on the field. Finally, we organize missions with doctors and specialists from Italy to carry out diagnostic visits and training courses for local staff, as well as scientific research projects so that our intervention has a long-term impact.
Change wants to help improve the living conditions of the populations of the countries in which it operates, intervening in the context of degradation, poverty and lack of health facilities.
It considers health protection a universal right. For this reason, anyone, in any area of the world, should be able to have access to health facilities and take advantage of basic and specialized medical care.
Change aspires to a world without inequalities, in which populations are no longer forced to die from treatable diseases due to the lack of medical facilities, and where health protection can become the basis for overall and sustainable development.
Change aims to invest in health, creating health infrastructures, including specialized ones, equipping them with good technologies and training staff so that the structure can continue to live over time.
It offers constant supervision, supports the presence of qualified volunteers on the field and pushes for continuous improvement.
In addition to a health environment in the strict sense, it addresses the problems of malnutrition both with constant anthropometric and health monitoring of the population of the villages, and by activating prevention and treatment programs with the distribution of food and micronutrients.
It also promotes the cultivation and dissemination of plants and vegetables that make it possible to enrich and diversify the diet, improving also the hygiene and health habits.
We carry out projects together with local partners, in order to have direct knowledge of the concrete needs. Our goal is to break the cycle of dependence on humanitarian aid and make our activities self-sustainable.
Our staff and volunteers are committed to complying with a strict code of ethics for respectful coexistence in the villages that welcome us. We are committed to respecting and protecting local culture, integrating our knowledge in the medical field with traditional local knowledge.
We guarantee the sustainability of all our operations by analyzing the impact they have on the population and the environment. We invest and value local resources so that our project is sustainable in the long term.
We align ourselves with internationally recognized principles, such as that of 'do no harm', which involves the adoption of measures to prevent any negative consequence of our actions on the populations with whom we operate.
We guarantee honesty and respect for supporters through the clear and timely publication of a report of the activities and results achieved, together with the Association's financial statements. More than 80% of the funds cover direct business costs, while only 20% are used for support expenses.
