Dans DAZED
Being gay in Madagascar doesn’t echo the loud and proud essence of queer communities in the west. Oppressed by the weight of far-right wing politics, societal discrimination, and a lack of international media coverage, many queer Malagasies live in silence, only able to truly live out their identity in the incubation of LGBT safe spaces. Alongside this, unlike other Eastern-African countries who have found their voice in the international media-scape, queer life in Madagascar remains largely underreported: something that sets off a domino effect for LGBT awareness and acceptance across the state. (..) Only a quarter of the island are accessible by road, so reaching and supporting LGBT people across the country and testing them for HIV is a formidable task and one thing that the country is falling short on. 14.8 per cent of MSM (men having sex with men) in Madagascar are living with HIV, making them the highest rate among the groups most at risk of contracting the disease. The others are sex workers and injecting drug users. Officials estimate that these figures could be even higher: less than 4 per cent of the population have been tested and of the 31,000 people that are infected, just 2,500 people are on treatment. (..) In Madagascar, same-sex relations are not criminalised like they are in places like Uganda and Ghana, but LGBT people still face discrimination from many segments of society. (..) Balou came out at rather a young age – she was the first woman to come out publicly as transgender in Madagascar, around 15 years ago. She set up the association Solidarité des MSM Madagascar to reach as many people in the community as possible with HIV sensitisation sessions, getting them tested for HIV, and distributing condoms, as well as providing safe spaces for LGBT to socialise and get to know each other. She works with the community to organise events in the capital and in the parts of the country.
Dans XINHUANET
Chinese brightness action campaign was launched in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo on Thursday to provide free treatment to more than 200 Malagasy patients who are suffering from cataract. To bring the brightness back to those patients, a group of eleven Chinese ophthalmologists will work with their Malagasy companions for more than two weeks. (..) Cooperation between China and Madagascar in the health sector has already lasted 43 years, with China having sent 21 Chinese medical teams and 608 Chinese doctors to Madagascar.
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