Child Healthcare Access Programme

Since 2009, Sustain for Life has supported the Child Healthcare Access Programme (CHAP), a new child healthcare initiative at Bwindi Community Hospital in rural southwest Uganda. The CHAP provides all healthcare for children less than five years of age at minimal cost and, for the very poorest families, free of charge.

Saving Lives of Vulnerable Children

The CHAP has been an overwhelming success and has saved and improved countless lives of children served by Bwindi Community Hospital. By April 2010, the hospital had registered around 8,000 children under the age of five years who are eligible for healthcare and to use the services of the hospital. After just the first year of the programme, BCH had seen a 400% increase in the number of children using the outpatients department and a 500% increase in admissions.

How Sustain for Life helped

• Helped to reduce the infant and child mortality rates
• Helped to reduce the fatality rate of malaria patients under five
• Helped to reduce the incidence and prevalence of preventable diseases in children
• Helped to increase the percentage of children receiving vaccinations against preventable diseases
• Helped to reduce stunting in children less than five years old
• Offered education, evidence-based treatment and follow-up for children and mothers with malnutrition
• Helped to provide excellent care for children with long-term medical conditions
• Helped to provide high quality sustainable inpatient, outpatient and diagnostic services to improve the survival of sick children