Expat insurance and health insurance in Mali

The Malian healthcare system relies on a pyramid structure: community health centres (CSCOM, around 559 recorded across 1,044 health areas) and 58 health districts at the base, referral centres (CSREF) at the intermediate level, 7 regional hospitals, and in Bamako the national hospitals of Point G, Gabriel Touré and Kati, joined since 2010 by the Hôpital du Mali (Missabougou). France Diplomatie describes medical and hospital equipment as generally "basic", except for the emergency department at the Clinique Pasteur in Bamako, considered satisfactory. The Malian mandatory health insurance (AMO), run by CANAM, remains in practice limited to formal-sector employees (civil servants, declared employees); no registration mechanism could be confirmed for a foreign resident with no local job. As a result, the vast majority of French residents in Bamako rely on the private sector, with a practice of medical evacuation to a better-equipped country for serious cases, given the lack of sufficient technical facilities locally.

• Mandatory visa before departure, issued only by the Malian consulates general in Paris or Lyon, by appointment; no visa is issued on arrival. Duration: 30 days, renewable locally.
• Mandatory yellow fever vaccination, up to date at least 10 days before departure, international vaccination booklet required on entry.
• No health insurance formally required for the visa or entry, but France Diplomatie recommends checking your cover before departure and calls insurance covering medical costs, hospitalisation and repatriation / medical evacuation essential.
• Since 14 January 2024, dual French-Malian nationals can only enter Malian territory with a valid Malian passport; other identity documents (ID card, birth certificate) aren't accepted at the border.
• The CFE recommended by the embassy, with an assisted category on consular application for households with modest resources.

Security situation, covered here solely from the angle of access to care: France Diplomatie formally advises against all travel to Mali and reports movement restrictions (particularly at night in Bamako, and on roads outside the capital) that in practice limit the ability to evacuate patients outside the capital.

The France-Mali social security agreement, signed on 12 June 1979 (in force since 1 June 1983), coordinates the sickness-maternity, old-age-survivors, workplace accidents / occupational diseases and family benefits branches.

• For sickness-maternity, the agreement provides for totalling insurance periods for opening rights to benefits in the new country of employment — it sets up no mechanism for reimbursing care received in Mali under French health insurance.
• The disability and death branches are explicitly excluded from the agreement; unemployment insurance is out of scope.
• An employee who suffers a workplace accident or occupational disease benefits from the export of the corresponding benefits.

• Before departure: yellow fever vaccination (at least 10 days before), an assistance contract covering hospitalisation and repatriation / medical evacuation, and a visa application with the Malian consulate in Paris or Lyon (by appointment).
• Before any trip: check France Diplomatie's travel advice, updated regularly given the security situation.
• Dual French-Malian nationals: travel with a valid Malian passport, the only document accepted at the border since January 2024.
• On arrival: registration with the roll of French nationals living abroad recommended (Consulate General in Bamako).
• Voluntary CFE registration recommended, as the France-Mali agreement doesn't cover reimbursement of care received locally.