MadagascarTravelling with ADHD medication: rules, permits and documents

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Last checked 20 Jul 2026Medium confidenceHow we rate a record

Madagascar treats these medications differently. Of the 7 we track, 3 need approval before you arrive, 1 has no published rule we could find and 3 need only your prescription.

Serious penalties: Madagascar's own customs guide lists 'Drogues, stupéfiants' among goods flatly prohibited on entry or exit with no stated medical exception, while national health law (Code de la Santé Art. 144) implies a lawful DPLMT-authorized channel exists for medical use, and no traveller-usable application process is published for that channel, so a traveller carrying a prescribed opioid risks having it treated as a prohibited good at the border with no published route to resolve the conflict before travelling.

ActionDirection Generale des Douanes (Malagasy Customs); Ministere de la Sante Publique approval before you arrive, and no processing time is published, so the earlier it goes in the better

Work out my dates

By medication

Brand names first, generic in brackets. Each line resolves the drug class rule below, plus anything Madagascar records specifically for that medication.

Vyvanse (lisdexamfetamine)Not named: Unclear
Lisdexamfetamine (Vyvanse) is not named in Madagascar's law (Loi 97-039, annexe Tableaux I to IV, pages 36 to 42), so no rule for it is published. Ask the authority listed here before you travel.
Ritalin, Concerta (methylphenidate)Permit required
Madagascar's Code de la Santé requires special DPLMT authorization to import or export a substance classified as psychotropic, for medical or scientific purposes only, with no traveller exception published. Madagascar's customs guide, separately, treats medicines carried on a prescription as an ordinary duty-free personal effect in reasonable quantity. That guide's prohibited-goods list does not use the term 'substances psychotropes' (it reads 'Drogues, stupéfiants') but 'Drogues' is generic, so a traveller should not read this class as safely outside the prohibition-versus-authorisation conflict recorded for opioids. No traveller-specific application process, quantity threshold or fee is published. Carry the original prescription and consider writing to DPLMT before travelling, since no form exists to apply through in advance. The customs prohibitions page (read 2026-09-16) sets the formality for the tariff lines covering stupéfiants and substances psychotropes: 'doit faire l'objet d'une autorisation d'importation du Ministère de la Santé et du Ministère de l'Intérieur', with no traveller or personal-quantity exception stated, so the general personal-effects allowance for prescribed medicines may not reach this class.
Dexedrine (dexamfetamine)Permit required
The same rule as Ritalin, Concerta above.
Strattera (atomoxetine)Prescription
Atomoxetine, guanfacine and viloxazine are not internationally controlled. Madagascar customs lets travellers bring medicines as personal effects when they show a prescription and carry a reasonable quantity for their own use. No number is given. We suggest keeping them in the original packaging.
Adderall (mixed amphetamine salts)Permit required
The same rule as Ritalin, Concerta above.
Intuniv (guanfacine)Prescription
The same rule as Strattera above.
Qelbree (viloxazine)Prescription
The same rule as Strattera above.

Rules by drug class

Narcotic (opioids)

Unclear

Quantity: The customs guide allows medicines carried on a prescription in 'quantité raisonnable' (reasonable quantity) as a duty-free personal effect, but states no number. No other Malagasy source states a quantity for narcotics.
Permit: Not published. Madagascar's customs guide lists 'Drogues, stupéfiants' among goods flatly prohibited on entry or exit, with no medical exception stated. The same guide separately treats 'médicaments sur présentation d'une ordonnance' as an ordinary duty-free personal effect. The Code de la Santé (Art. 144) states that importation of narcotics is subject to a special, renewable DPLMT authorization limited to medical/scientific purposes, implying a lawful channel exists. No source reconciles these. The only published individual application route to that authorization requires a supplier's pro-forma invoice and a pharmacists'-body certificate that the product is unavailable in Madagascar: a route for importing medicine not sold locally, not for a traveller carrying their own already-dispensed supply, so even if a permit is in principle required, no traveller-usable form is published. A traveller should
Documents: prescription

Psychotropic (ADHD stimulants, benzodiazepines, sleep)

Permit required

Quantity: The customs guide allows medicines carried on a prescription in 'quantité raisonnable' (reasonable quantity) as a duty-free personal effect, but states no number; it is the only wording that covers arrival. Loi 97-039 lets patients in transit hold up to 7 days' treatment of tableau II medicines (art 64, page 17), and bars prescriptions of tableau II medicines for more than 7 days (art 58, page 15). The 7-day figure applies at least to transit.
Permit: Required. Code de la Santé Art. 144 makes the import of substances classified as psychotropic subject to a special, renewable DPLMT authorisation, for medical or scientific purposes only. The customs guide's prohibited list reads 'Drogues, stupéfiants'. 'Drogues' is a generic term, so treat the unresolved prohibition-versus-authorisation conflict recorded for opioids as possibly reaching ADHD stimulants too. DPLMT's published import procedure (written for wholesale importers) says it issues the import authorisation 48 to 72 hours after the officer in charge receives the application, following a prior marketing-authorisation check by the Medicines Agency (DAMM) with no stated time; no time is given for individual applications. Its individual ('Particuliers') route needs an application to the Director, the treating doctor's prescription, an Order of Pharmacists certificate that the product does not exist locally, and a supplier pro-forma invoice, so it is built for importing, not for a traveller's own supply.
Documents: prescription

Not internationally controlled

Prescription

Quantity: Madagascar customs treats medicines as a personal effect when you show a prescription and carry a reasonable quantity. It gives no number.
Documents: prescription

Leaving Madagascar

Madagascar publishes a different rule for taking these medicines out than for bringing them in. Only the differences are below. Anything not listed here is the same as the rule above.

Narcotic (opioids)

The export leg is stated by the same two sources that state the import leg, so it carries the same unresolved conflict. The customs guide's prohibited-goods heading is 'ARTICLES INTERDITS À L'ENTRÉE OU À LA SORTIE' (goods prohibited on entry or exit) and Code de la Santé Art. 144 subjects 'l'importation, l'exportation' of narcotic-classified substances to the same special DPLMT authorisation in one sentence. The customs guide's separate 'Au départ' section (phytosanitary and sanitary goods, precious woods and metals, jewellery over 250g, currency) does not mention medicines at all, so there is no distinct outbound process, quantity, form or lead time published. A traveller leaving Madagascar with a prescribed opioid is in the same position as one arriving with it.

Psychotropic (ADHD stimulants, benzodiazepines, sleep)

Code de la Santé Art. 144 subjects 'l'importation, l'exportation' of psychotropic-classified substances to the same special, renewable DPLMT authorisation in a single sentence, so the requirement is stated for the export leg as well as the import leg. The customs guide's prohibited-goods heading likewise covers exit as well as entry. No separate outbound process, quantity, form, fee or lead time is published, and the customs guide's 'Au départ' section does not mention medicines at all. Leaving Madagascar with a prescribed ADHD stimulant is on the published text subject to the same DPLMT authorisation as bringing one in.

Connecting through Madagascar

Loi 97-039 art 64 (page 17) lets a person under treatment who is in transit through Madagascar hold, for personal use, up to 7 days' treatment of tableau II medicines, which include amfetamine, dexamfetamine and methylphenidate, with the corresponding prescriptions. No authorisation is named for transit. Lisdexamfetamine is not listed, so no rule for it is published.

Responsible authority

Direction Generale des Douanes (Malagasy Customs); Ministere de la Sante Publique

assistance@douane.mg; green line 360

Sources

The sources behind everything above, so you can check it yourself rather than take our word for it. Always confirm the current rule with the source before you travel.

Your trip pack

Madagascar needs a permit before you fly. The pack works out your apply-by date from your travel date.

A$59

We have not found an application form or portal for travellers here, so the pack gives you Direction Generale des Douanes (Malagasy Customs); Ministere de la Sante Publique to contact, what to put in the request, and how long to allow. Plus a doctor's letter pre-filled with your medications and every stop, and a checklist in travel order.

Build your trip pack

This page organises publicly available government information and links. It is not legal or medical advice. Rules change and enforcement varies, so always confirm with the official sources above or the Madagascar embassy or consulate before travelling.