The outside medical evacuation for cancer from Madagascar

Abstract

Medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) is the transfer of a patient from one health facility to another. This patient is suffering from a medical or surgical condition requiring investigation and/or care exceeding the limits of the capacity and technical competence of the health unit that transfers. In developed countries, cancer care benefits from the availability and accessibility of different therapeutic resources. In developing countries, particularly those in Africa, the management of cancer is hampered by the unavailability and inaccessibility of certain technical platforms including radiotherapy and scintigraphy. Knowledge of the missing technical platforms could help prioritize investments in health infrastructure for the fight against cancer. Thus, our objective was to describe the requests for external medical evacuation for cancer in order to make an inventory of the technical platforms missing in Madagascar in terms of oncology.