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Abora Idriss is feeling hopeful. Any day now the doctors will let him go home and he will be reunited with his family.
It was not long ago that an ambulance brought the 22-year-old to Baga-Sola hospital, vomiting and in pain – his only chance at survival an emergency operation to repair holes in his intestines.
“The pain was excruciating and I needed help desperately. My family was so scared.”
Unfortunately, Abora’s story is not unusual. In Chad, where ongoing conflict and huge numbers of refugees from neighbouring countries have put great strain on the healthcare system, thousands of people find themselves with no access to healthcare. Without it, even the simplest medical complications become life threatening.
International Medical Corps has been providing health and nutrition services in the Lac region of Chad since 2012. Through the support of the European Union's humanitarian aid programme, International Medical Corps has been supporting Bol and Baga-Sol hospitals in order to open up access to healthcare services to thousands more people.
For Abora, that access meant the difference between life and death. Operated on and given medication, the young man soon started recovering.
“As I began healing the hope came back.
“I can walk again now, I can eat everything and my family is very happy.”
International Medical Corps also supports young mothers and children with vital nutrition services and antenatal care. In the space of only six months since April 2016, almost 400 children were vaccinated against preventable diseases. In the second phase of the European Commission-funded programme, hospital mortality rates have also decreased by almost half.
Clotaire Marie Tapsoba, International Medical Corps’ Country Director in Chad, says: “Our aim is not only to provide health care and food security today. We want to strengthen the healthcare system in this part of the world so that the benefits can be felt throughout the community for many years to come.
“Today, more and more children are vaccinated and protected from preventable diseases, more and more caregivers know how to keep their children healthy and safe - and more and more patients will be able to receive the medical assistance they need.”
