CHAT provides door-to-door service to those communities of the Laikipia, Samburu, Isiolo and family planning services in locations in Meru, Molo, Rongai and Naivasha that have been previously underserved. CHAT operates in the form of a mobile clinic. One of the sole health care providers in the Samburu, Laikipia and Isiolo regions, the mobile clinic uses an integrated system of vehicles, camels, bicycles and walking methods to visit approximately 36 different communities 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 CHAT’s core service, family planning
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 gives 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 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, and TB defaulter tracing the 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.
