Non-governmental organisation (NGO) Concern Worldwide, with financial support from the European Union (EU), has built and fully equipped a health centre in Fourkoulom in the Lac Province of Chad.

The centre will essentially service the large numbers of internally displaced persons and host populations in the region.

The official handover ceremony was chaired by the Prefect of the Kaya Department, Hassane Abderamane.

Access to basic services remains a major challenge in Lac Province despite the efforts of even the highest authorities.

It was in this context that Concern Worldwide, in line with the government, recently built and fully equipped a health centre, consisting of a treatment room, a consultation room, a maternity unit, a pharmacy, a storage warehouse and three dormitories assigned to health workers, some of whom had worked formerly with provincial health authorities.

Laurent De Ruyt, the country director of Concern Worldwide in Chad, said: “At the end of March, following assessments in the field and after discussions with the Concern Worldwide team in Chad, we decided to build a health post in Fourkoulom, one of the biggest internally displaced persons’ sites in the Lac Province.

“I quickly drafted a first sketch of the construction plan. A month later, on May 1, we received funding from the EU’s European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations [ECHO]. And, following discussions with the community, we finalised the plan and launched the construction in mid-June,” De Ruyt said.

“We agreed that prefabricated containers would allow for a quick deployment. And, finally, this week, we and EU-ECHO inaugurated the new health post, which is now fully operational,” he said.

“On the first day I witnessed a large number of sick people being treated, including those who were severely ill. The needs are huge but I am so proud of our team.”

De Ruyt said the construction of the health centre was part of the overall strategy of the NGO, which was to offer the affected Chadians an integrated package of activities for appropriate and sustainable responses to the difficulties they experienced.

While thanking Concern Worldwide for this “fabulous gift”, Abderamane immediately instructed the provincial health delegation and the beneficiaries to take great care of the health centre.

Cyril Rouzoumka, the Bagasola District chief medical officer, took the opportunity to urge the host populations and displaced persons from the village of Fourkoulom to make good use the centre.