Chad

IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN nation of Chad, some 80 percent of the population live below the national poverty line. Almost one-third of the total population and some 28 percent of all children are malnourished. Annual per capita income in Chad is $210. The United Nations Human Development Report ranks Chad among the lowest countries on quality-of-life issues, but assessment of Chadian poverty is somewhat hampered by insufficient reporting of data.

From the 1960s to the 1990s, Chad was plagued by civil unrest and was invaded by neighboring Libya. Even after democratic elections were held in 1996 and 1997, power remained concentrated in the hands of an ethnic minority. The Chadian economy is dominated by agriculture, and more than 80 percent of the population are dependent on subsistence farming and livestock. The economy is expected to improve in the near future because a consortium led by two American oil companies invested $3.7 billion to develop Chad's oil reserves, which are estimated at one billion barrels.

Chadians have a median age of 16.02 years, with approximately half of the population under the age of 14, and 2.8 percent reaching the age of 65. Life expectancy is 47.94 years, and Chadians have a 42.9 percent chance of failing to survive until their 40th birthday.

The Chadian population lacks proper access to potable water. Additional health and environmental concerns derive from the soil and water pollution that has resulted from improper waste disposal in rural areas. Lack of access to physicians, hospitals, and lifesaving drugs further threatens the population. Chad faces a 4.8 percent prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS, with 200,000 people living with the disease and 18,000 deaths attributed to the disease and its complicating factors.

Chadians also face a very high risk of contracting food- and waterborne diseases such as bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever. Additional health concerns include schistosomiasis, a water contact disease, and outbreaks of malaria, cholera, and meningococcal meningitis. In conjunction with the Carter Center, Guinea worm, which is also spread through infected water, was eradicated in Chad in 1998. Chad's infant mortality rate is unacceptably high at 117 deaths per every 1,000 live births, as is the mortality rate of 200 for children under the age of 5. In 2003, 61 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 36 months were immunized against measles, and 47 percent of that group received DPT immunizations. Among Chadian infants, 61 percent were immunized against measles, and 67 percent were immunized against tuberculosis. Only 36 percent of Chadian children received oral re-hydration therapy when necessary.

The fertility rate of 6.2 children among all females of childbearing age and the fertility rate for women aged 15 to 19 pose unacceptable risks to Chadian women. Only eight percent of Chadian women use contraceptives of any sort. The maternal mortality rate of 1,100 deaths per 100,000 live births is indicative of Chad's widespread poverty and its poor healthcare system. In 2003, less than 20 percent of all Chadian births were attended by trained medical staff. Chadian girls continue to be subjected to genital mutilation despite the efforts of both government and nongovernmental organizations to stop this practice.

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