The healthcare sector in Chad is still very precarious because of the lack of qualified personnel. Access to healthcare remains problematic. Some districts have almost no properly functioning sociomedical structure. The health indicators make grim reading. The infant mortality rate is 200 per thousand among children under 5 years of age, while maternal mortality is 900 per 100,000 births.

SDC has been involved in Chad's healthcare sector since 1970. The current programme focuses on the health centres and hospitals in two healthcare districts of Chari Baguirmi. The communal healthcare component of this programme is aimed at establishing and strengthening the structures for communal involvement. In a rural environment, moreover, the health centres are generally located very far away from a significant proportion of the population. As a result, the rural population often have to resort to the time-honoured forms of care offered by midwives or traditional healers. The programme aims to achieve mutual recognition of the complementary nature and limitations of traditional healthcare.

Starting in 2003, health-related activities are to be gradually introduced into the work of the regional teams, who will primarily be concentrating on the rural economy and basic education. The teams will initially be tackling the issues of prevention, the health of mothers and children, and aspects related to HIV and AIDS.