Madagascar: Hunger is a Hard Sell

Androka — No mother would ever want to be told her child has "severe acute malnutrition", but in parched southwestern Madagascar, 27-year old Donasine, mother of nine and four months pregnant, welcomes the nurse's diagnosis with a smile - the child will receive free life-saving treatment.

Hundreds of desperate mothers and children have gathered at the government health centre in Androka, a town in the rain-starved Ampanihy district of the huge Indian Ocean island. It is Saturday, which is when the health staff - one nurse and an assistant - examine the nutritional status of children.

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