Communicable diseases, such as diarrheal diseases, lower respiratory infections and malaria, are the major contributors to death among the population of Chad, which has some of the world’s highest under-five mortality rates. Around two thirds of Chad’s total population live in areas of high malaria transmission, principally in the southern half of the country. In 2019, there were an estimated 3.19 million cases of malaria and 9,000 deaths in the country. We work closely with the Ministry of Health in addressing this through our seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) programme.
Malaria Consortium established an office in N'Djamena, the capital of Chad, in May 2016 as part of its ACCESS-SMC project and have continued to deliver seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) projects in the country since then. In 2021, Malaria Consortium supported SMC in 26 health districts in Chad, to reach over one million children under five.
We work with government and implementing partners to plan campaigns, increase community engagement, distribute antimalarials and undertake operational research to provide technical advice and the necessary evidence for the Ministry of Health and other partners to make informed decisions about adaptation and innovation in SMC at regional and national levels.
In 2022, we also began a project to strengthen the pneumonia response in country to assess and improve pneumonia case levels in the country. Drawing on our experience in conducting large-scale studies, we will support the Ministry of Health to develop a suitable strategy to improve pneumonia case management.