Chad is one of the most strategically important rehabilitation countries in Central Africa. It is landlocked, geographically vast, and positioned between Sudan, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon and the Central African Republic. With a population of just over 20.2 million people in 2024, Chad faces major pressure on healthcare, social protection and rehabilitation services.
For prosthetics and orthotics, Chad’s needs are shaped by poverty, road traffic injury, conflict-related trauma, displacement, polio and childhood disability, neurological conditions, diabetes, limited specialist rehabilitation infrastructure, and the impact of the Sudan crisis on the country’s eastern border.
For IMEA CPO, Chad should be viewed as a priority country for humanitarian rehabilitation, local workforce development, assistive technology access, and regional cooperation across Central Africa and the Sahel.
Chad is a large landlocked country in north-central Africa. Its capital, N’Djamena, is the main political, administrative and healthcare centre, but much of the population lives far from specialised medical and rehabilitation services. Chad’s geography makes healthcare delivery difficult: distances are long, transport routes can be challenging, and many communities are rural or remote.
The World Bank notes that Chad continues to be affected by conflict and violent groups in neighbouring countries, placing pressure on stability and public finances. This regional instability has direct implications for rehabilitation because conflict, displacement and insecurity increase the need for trauma care, prosthetics, orthotics, physiotherapy and psychosocial support.
Chad has limited publicly available disability and O&P data. This is itself an important issue. Without reliable national data on limb loss, mobility impairment, assistive device need and rehabilitation outcomes, it is difficult to plan services, train professionals or allocate resources effectively.
A review in the African Disability Rights Yearbook noted that persons with disabilities in Chad face serious challenges, including limited access to doctors specialised in re-education and rehabilitation.
This shortage of rehabilitation expertise is a central concern for prosthetics and orthotics. A prosthesis, orthosis, wheelchair or assistive device only works well when supported by assessment, fitting, training, follow-up and repair. In under-resourced settings, device delivery without clinical continuity can lead to poor outcomes, abandonment or complications.
Chad’s rehabilitation needs have increased significantly because of regional displacement. Chad is now one of Africa’s most important refugee-hosting countries. Development Action Refugees reports that Chad hosts more than 1.8 million refugees, most of them from Sudan, and that more than 904,000 new Sudanese refugees had been recorded since the outbreak of Sudan’s war in April 2023.
This has major implications for O&P and rehabilitation services. Many refugees arrive with war injuries, untreated trauma, amputations, fractures, neurological impairments, burns, psychological distress and functional limitations. Humanitarian rehabilitation is therefore not an optional support service. It is part of emergency and long-term health response.
Humanity & Inclusion reports that its teams in Chad are working with refugee populations on the eastern border to provide rehabilitation services and mental health support. The organisation also highlights the importance of logistics support, including storage and transport infrastructure, to keep humanitarian services functioning in difficult environments.
The Sudan conflict has created a severe cross-border rehabilitation challenge for Chad. Humanity & Inclusion has described the role of assistive devices, prosthetics, orthotics and physiotherapy in supporting recovery for Sudanese refugees in Chad.
The Guardian reported in 2024 that Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad were struggling to access medical care for war injuries, with some people facing permanent disability that may have been avoidable with timely surgery. The report also described limited medical capacity and major humanitarian funding gaps.
For CPOs, this context is important. War injury rehabilitation requires more than emergency surgery. It requires residual limb care, wound healing, prosthetic assessment, orthotic stabilisation, mobility aids, physiotherapy, pain management, psychological support and long-term review.
Chad’s O&P service landscape appears limited and heavily dependent on humanitarian partnerships, public health facilities and international support. Historical ICRC materials show that Chad has been included in ICRC-supported prosthetics and orthotics training activity, with ICRC noting that it had provided P&O training in countries including Chad, Ethiopia, Mozambique and Sudan.
The ICRC’s wider Physical Rehabilitation Programme describes its mission as improving access to mobility devices such as prostheses, orthoses, walking aids and wheelchairs, while also supporting training and sustainability of services.
For Chad, the key challenge is to move from fragmented or project-based rehabilitation toward more consistent national capacity. This means developing Chadian technicians, prosthetists, orthotists, physiotherapists, rehabilitation physicians and community rehabilitation workers who can provide services beyond short-term humanitarian response.
Conflict in neighbouring countries and insecurity around the Lake Chad basin contribute to trauma, displacement and disability. Limb loss, fractures, nerve injuries and spinal trauma all require rehabilitation services. Prosthetic and orthotic capacity is especially important for people who cannot travel internationally or to major urban centres for care.
The arrival of large numbers of Sudanese refugees and Chadian returnees has placed pressure on already fragile health systems. Many people arriving from conflict zones need assistive devices, physiotherapy and longer-term support.
Humanity & Inclusion has reported work supporting children with and without disabilities in Chad to access education. One case highlighted a girl returning to school with a new prosthesis, showing how mobility devices can directly affect school participation and dignity.
For paediatric O&P, this matters because children need growth-related follow-up, school access, family education and regular device adjustment.
Chad’s poverty burden affects access to healthcare and assistive devices. World Bank data lists Chad’s poverty headcount ratio at 39.5% at the $3.00-a-day poverty line in 2022, while life expectancy was 55 years in 2024.
For prosthetics and orthotics, poverty affects every stage of care: transport to appointments, ability to pay for devices, follow-up attendance, repairs, footwear, nutrition, wound healing and return to work.
Like many countries in Africa and the Middle East, Chad will need to prepare for rising non-communicable disease burden, including diabetes and vascular disease. These conditions can increase demand for diabetic foot care, custom footwear, offloading insoles, orthoses and amputation rehabilitation. Even where current O&P demand is dominated by trauma and humanitarian need, prevention must be part of future planning.
Globally, the World Bank states that more than one billion people, or about 16% of the world’s population, live with disability, with prevalence higher in developing countries.
For Chad, this global context matters because access to assistive technology is likely to remain far below need unless rehabilitation is built into national health planning. Prostheses, orthoses, wheelchairs, walking aids, therapeutic footwear and paediatric mobility devices should be treated as essential health products rather than optional charity items.
Workforce development is one of Chad’s most urgent O&P priorities. The country needs locally trained rehabilitation professionals who can work in hospitals, regional centres, refugee-response programmes and community settings.
Priority training areas include:
International partners can support this process, but long-term capacity must be Chadian-led.
Humanitarian organisations play a major role in Chad’s rehabilitation landscape. Humanity & Inclusion is active in rehabilitation, mental health support, logistics and support for vulnerable people affected by the Sudan crisis.
The organisation’s Chad country information also lists access to health and rehabilitation services among its programme areas, including support to the health system for functional rehabilitation, stimulation therapy and mental health care.
The opportunity is to connect humanitarian service delivery with national systems. Emergency rehabilitation should not remain separate from long-term health planning. Refugees, host communities and Chadian citizens all need access to sustainable rehabilitation pathways.
Chad’s O&P sector has significant development potential if investment focuses on practical, scalable systems.
Key opportunities include:
Digital O&P may have future relevance in Chad, but it should be introduced carefully. The priority should not be high-cost technology for a small number of users. The priority should be tools that improve access, reduce travel, support repeatable fabrication and help clinicians document cases.
Useful digital opportunities could include:
Digital systems should support local clinical capacity, not replace it.
Chad’s rehabilitation and O&P development faces serious constraints:
These challenges are substantial, but they also show why Chad should be included in regional O&P development strategies.
Chad’s rehabilitation story is shaped by geography, poverty, conflict and displacement. It is not yet a mature O&P market, but it is a country where prosthetics, orthotics and assistive technology can make an immediate difference to mobility, dignity and survival.
For IMEA CPO, Chad should be understood as a humanitarian rehabilitation priority and a long-term workforce development opportunity. The need is not only for donated devices. The need is for trained people, reliable workshops, referral systems, follow-up pathways, and partnerships that connect emergency care with lifelong rehabilitation.
Chad’s future O&P development will depend on practical investment: basic prosthetic and orthotic capacity, mobility aids, paediatric rehabilitation, refugee services, community-based care, and national recognition that rehabilitation is essential healthcare.