CHAT provides door-to-door service to those communities of the Laikipia and Samburu regions that have been previously underserved. This service operates in the form of a mobile clinic. One of the sole health care providers to this region, the mobile clinic uses an integrated system of vehicles, camels, bicycles and walking methods to visit approximately 25 different rural sites each month. Staffed with two nurses and a driver, a well-recognized yellow Land Rover travels over 15,000 km annually.
CHAT's approach is holistic, providing services inclusive of:
- Reproductive health including family planning & antenatal care
- Basic medical care, including treatment of malaria and TB
- HIV/AIDS testing & counseling
- Non antiretroviral & OI treatment to AIDS patients
- Child immunizations
- Health education
Clinic staff give lectures, demonstrations and video screenings to raise awareness of reproductive health, HIV/AIDS, and the dangers of female genital mutilation, usually to gender and/or age specific groups.
CHAT works alongside 11 Community-Based Health Workers who mobilize individuals and raise awareness of the clinics monthly schedule visits within their local community. As clinic staff are recruited locally they are familiar with, and sensitive to, the customs, traditions and languages of the many communities reached. Trained in HIV/AIDS counseling & testing and/or family planning, they Community-Based Health Workers provide a point of continuity for clinic door to door services throughout the month.
The clinic travels to the underserved communities using innovative mobiles, including camel caravans, adapted vehicles, bicycles, or by foot, depending on the terrain and infrastructure.
CHAT works with a range of partners in order to create a strong and sustainable means for these ‘forgotten’ communities to access health care and health education.
