POPULATION ADVISOR PROJECT MINISTRY OF PUBLIC HEALTH ...

initiating any action on the distribution of contraceptives. It
was agreed that such follow-up would take place between the USAID
representative and the Minister of Public Health.
The last step in "institutionalizing" contraceptives in Chad
is to have them added to Chad's essential list of medicines. They
will then be accepted as a basic commodity for primary health care.
IV. Demographic Data Collection and Analysis
A. First Demographic Survey in Chad
In 1987 an agreement was reached between the U.S. Bureau of the
Census, the World Bank and the Government of Chad to undertake a
demographic survey of Chad. USAID contributed $110,000 through the
Sahel Population Initiatives Project for training of Chadian
personnel and preparation for the terms of reference. The
Population Advisor's role in the project initially was that of
coordinator and expeditor. It would change once the data
collection began because this project was seen as an important
contributor to the collection of morbidity, mortality and fertility
data essential to health and population planning programs.
By 1988 the idea of a demographic survey was changed to a
census and all activities were delayed. The Population Advisor
left Chad before any further action had been taken on this project.
B. Columbia University's Operation Research Project
Several months after the arrival of the Population Advisor to
N'Djamena the mission requested technical assistance from Columbia
University's OR project to collect some fertility data that could
begin measuring the attitudes and demand for family planning
services in N'Djamena. The mission's request was accepted for
1988.
The general objective of the project was to study current
contraceptive practices and measure the demand for family planning
services in selected health and social centers in N'Djamena from
a population of 1,200 women of reproductive age.
The outcomes of the study would be presented at the
International Family Planning Conference and would hopefully be
used to develop appropriate socio-cultural strategies in
instituting a national family planning program.
The significance of this first OR study of its kind in Chad
was a first attempt to collect morbidity and mortality data as it
correlates with family planning variables as well as to provide an
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