Dr. Héry Andriantsoa

Dr. Héry Andriantsoa is a general practitioner at CHU Tambohobe in Fianarantsoa — Madagascar's second-largest city and the capital of the Haute Matsiatra region in the Southern Highlands. Serving a predominantly rural and peri-urban population, Dr. Andriantsoa provides a broad range of primary care services that are essential in a region where specialist physicians are scarce and where communities must travel significant distances over challenging terrain to access hospital care. Over 12 years of practice, he has become intimately familiar with the health challenges of Fianarantsoa's population: malaria, though less intense than in Madagascar's coastal zones, remains significant at altitude; typhoid fever is endemic in communities with limited access to clean water; schistosomiasis affects those living near rivers and rice paddies; and malnutrition — particularly in children — remains a persistent public health concern in the Southern Highlands, which has faced recurring drought in recent years. Dr. Andriantsoa provides the full scope of general primary care, from chronic disease management for hypertensive and diabetic adults to antenatal care and childhood immunisation. He is actively involved in community health education, working alongside community health workers (Agents Communautaires de Santé) on malaria prevention, hygiene promotion, and nutritional supplementation campaigns.

Dr. Andriantsoa completed his Doctorat en Médecine at the Faculté de Médecine d'Antananarivo and subsequently returned to the Haute Matsiatra region, his home area, to serve as a general practitioner at CHU Tambohobe. He obtained a Certificate in Primary Care and Tropical Diseases through a training programme co-organised by the WHO Madagascar office and the Institut Pasteur de Madagascar, which gave him advanced competencies in the management of malaria, schistosomiasis, and enteric infections. He has participated in DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-course) training for tuberculosis management and in continuing education supported by the Madagascar Ministry of Public Health's district health system strengthening programme.

Dr. Andriantsoa's clinical practice covers the breadth of primary care challenges in the Southern Highlands context. He diagnoses and treats malaria using rapid diagnostic tests and microscopy, prescribing artemisinin-based combination therapy for uncomplicated cases and managing severe malaria with IV artesunate before referral when indicated. He initiates and supervises DOTS-based tuberculosis treatment in collaboration with Madagascar's national TB programme, performs sputum collection and interpretation, and manages TB-HIV co-infection in primary care. He identifies and manages schistosomiasis with praziquantel, treats typhoid fever with appropriate antibiotics, and manages malnutrition in children using WHO therapeutic feeding protocols. He provides wound care, minor suturing, basic antenatal monitoring, and routine vaccination for children and adults.

Dr. Andriantsoa contributed to epidemiological data collection for the Madagascar National Malaria Control Programme's reporting on malaria case incidence in the Southern Highlands zone. He participated in a multi-site nutrition surveillance study assessing malnutrition prevalence in children under five in Haute Matsiatra and has shared clinical observations on schistosomiasis co-morbidities at the Association des Médecins de Fianarantsoa's regional medical conference.

Dr. Andriantsoa consults in French and Malagasy and provides medical services to international visitors in Fianarantsoa, which is a gateway city for ecotourism to the Ranomafana National Park and surrounding highlands. He is experienced in assessing and treating traveller's illnesses including malaria, food and waterborne infections, and altitude-related conditions relevant to Madagascar's plateau regions. For international patients requiring specialist care beyond CHU Tambohobe's capacity, he coordinates referrals to Antananarivo and provides detailed medical summaries in French for international patient transfers.

Dr. Andriantsoa was recognised by the Haute Matsiatra Regional Health Directorate for his dedication to primary care in Fianarantsoa and for his sustained engagement with community health education programmes. He received a commendation from the Madagascar National TB Programme for his consistent DOTS programme outcomes in the CHU Tambohobe catchment area, achieving high treatment completion rates among registered tuberculosis patients.