Chad

Chad is a vast, landlocked Sahelian nation of 10.8 million people, most of who rely on subsistence farming for their livelihood. A history of instability, and more recently an influx of refugees fleeing Janjawid armed militia and the Sudanese military in the Darfur region of Sudan, have left Chad’s health care system in upgrading to meet the needs of its citizens. Maternal health in particular has suffered, and maternal mortality in Chad is among the world’s highest. In an effort to change this, EngenderHealth worked to:

• Make motherhood safer by increasing access to and improving the quality of emergency obstetric care and postabortion care services
• Advocate for better health care policies
• Expand contraceptive options

 
Making Motherhood Safer
EngenderHealth is working to improve reproductive health, family planning, and child survival in 21 West African countries, including Chad, through our Action for West Africa Region—Reproductive Health (AWARE-RH) Project. From its launch in 2003 to its close in 2008, the project in Chad:

• Trained health providers in emergency obstetric management, such as obstructed labor.
• Trained providers at two hospitals in N’Djamena to provide postabortion care counseling, infection prevention, and manual vacuum aspiration. We also have worked to support the integration of postabortion care into routine maternal health care services.

 
Advocating for Health Care Policies
In collaboration with local activists, EngenderHealth worked with Chad’s parliament to pass the Reproductive Health Law, which increases access to family planning and reproductive health care.

 
Expanding Contraceptive Options
A number of factors limit access to and use of contraception in Chad, including a shortage of skilled and trained providers, inadequate commodities and supplies, and lack of accurate information about the methods. Through the ACQUIRE Project, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), EngenderHealth worked to advance the availability, quality, and use of reproductive health and family planning services in Chad, including the IUD.