On Nosy Be Island there are two hospitals, one in the capital Hell Ville “Hospital Be”, used mainly by the local population, and the other is the health center Santa Maria delle Grazie “A Hospital for Nosy Be”, about 5 km from the headquarters of Manta Diving, which serves as a reference for treatment for tourists and European residents.
The clinic has two operating rooms, radiology, ultrasound machine and you can do as many as 30 basic tests.
They are present in the structure of local doctors including a dentist, and in rotation from Italy arrive volunteer doctors specialists who usually stay two weeks, and in addition to offering medical service carry out specialized training to doctors resident at the clinic.
The vast majority of the tourist facilities in Nosy Be are not so large that they can accommodate an infirmary, but you will find first aid boxes and some of them are equipped with defibrillators.
Most hotels, in case of small traveler problems where hospitalisation is not necessary, have two prominent doctors on Nosy Be: Dr. Live Andrianarimaka and Dr. Murielle Zaharah.
In case of medical call, the guest will be required to pay on spot. If you reach Nosy Be through a travel agency or tour operator, we remind you that there is a medical baggage insurance and after sending the appropriate documents, the guest will receive his or her reimbursement; in general you will start from a deductible of 50€ and more.
In Nosy be there are four pharmacies of which two in Hell Ville, one in Ambatoloaka and one in Dzamandzar, all of them are well supplied both with European or equivalent drugs, and with specific drugs for tropical areas that in most cases are more effective than those you normally carry in your travel bag.
In addition to pharmacies, there are those that call these latitudes “espace medical”, i.e. outpatient clinics and can be found in various parts of the island.
However, in case of need, we recommend contacting the Santa Maria delle Grazie clinic or the two doctors whose contacts are listed below.
Vaccinations have always been a big dilemma. No member of Manta Diving is a doctor, so we can not tell you to get a vaccine or not or answer the question whether or not to follow an anti-malarial prophylaxis to reach Nosy Be, so we advise you to turn to your doctor even if unlike other African countries where it is imperative, here is only recommended.
Instead, we suggest you to follow the anti-malarial prophylaxis in case you would like to take part in an adventure trip to “Gran Terra”, Madagascar.
It might also be useful to get the basic vaccines of the adventurous traveller: antitiphic, tetanus and anticholeric in case your routes involve very remote areas but certainly not for Nosy Be.
As for Nosy Be… it’s a touristically developed island and all the structures that host you enjoy an excellent level of cleanliness, you can easily brush your teeth with running water, the water running from the taps is drinkable accustomed so in any case to always use bottled drinks.
Food is stored in refrigerators and cold rooms, you can easily eat everything, but be careful NOT to exaggerate with tropical fruit, raw meat or shellfish, drink too cold drinks or ice cream.
Other small attentions that will help you to spend your holiday in total harmony with your belly are: remember to wash your hands before every meal, do not eat food purchased on the street, do not abuse the air conditioning and maybe take some live lactic ferments before coming here.
Your body comes fresh from Europe, sometimes when it is cold in Italy and here it is 32°; try to give your body time to get used to the change.
The hotels we recommend regularly carry out disinfestations for insects, however some Autan Tropical will help you relax even during the evenings by the sea.
Dott.ssa Live Andrianarimaka: +261 32 02 397 74
Dott.ssa MurielleZaharah: +261 32 67 705 34
Info & contacts Clinica Sanitaria Santa Maria delle Grazie:
- direction@centro-sanitario-nosybe.org
- +261 34 86 925 55
- www.unospedalepernosybe.it