Digitalisation and Medical Practice in Urban Chad: A Brief Report from

The integration of digital technologies into healthcare is a global phenomenon, but its progression in low-resource settings such as Central Africa is poorly documented. This report explores the state of digitalisation within urban medical practice in Chad. This brief report aims to describe the principal drivers, challenges, and patterns of digital tool adoption in urban Chadian medical practice. It seeks to outline predominant use cases and their perceived effect on clinical and administrative workflows. A qualitative, observational approach was used, based on longitudinal professional experience within multiple urban hospitals and clinics. This was supplemented by a review of institutional documents and informal discussions with medical practitioners. Digitalisation advanced slowly and unevenly, largely initiated by externally funded projects. Mobile phones were the most common tool, used extensively for practitioner communication and consultation. Hospital administration digitised more readily than clinical care systems, which remained predominantly paper-based. Significant barriers included unreliable electricity, high data costs, and a lack of technical training. Digitalisation in urban Chadian medicine has been incremental and fragmented. While communication technologies are widely used, integrated digital systems for direct patient care are not yet established. Adoption has been pragmatic, shaped by existing infrastructural limitations. Future interventions should prioritise sustainable infrastructure, such as solar power. Technical training must be a core component of digital health projects from their inception. National policy should advocate for interoperable systems over isolated, short-term initiatives. Digital health, medical practice, Chad, urban health, low-resource settings, mobile health This report provides a practice-based perspective on the adoption of digital tools in an under-reported context, offering insights for planning future digital health strategies in similar settings.