UK • Transportation and Health care
- Sector: Transportation and Health care
- Headquarters Country: UK
- Founding Year: 1986
- Operating Regions: Lesotho/ Malawi/ Liberia/Gambia
- Founders: Andrea Coleman/Barry Coleman
- Problem Identified: Among the very many serious problems faced and endured in rural Africa is the almost total failure of ordinary mechanical transport. This becomes a problem because of the central nature of transport in health care. Transport is a “means to an end”, it gives value (or usefulness) to products and services for it takes them to where they are needed most hence valuable. An effective drug in a warehouse does not have value; it is becomes valuable when it is administered to a person in need, who may be in last mile.
- Solution Offered: RFHI partners with Ministries of Health and other Health focused organizations in ensuring access to vital health services in remote, and often underserved, communities in sub Saharan Africa with a collective experience which spans over 30 years.Riders for Health International (RfHI) works to improve the capacity and efficiency of health care delivery platforms in Africa. This is done by strengthening transport systems, instilling a culture of maintenance, attention to detail, introducing new thinking and fostering attitude change, to support the reach to the rural poor in sub-Saharan Africa with health care and vital services. We help organisations, government entities to design/implement a sustained customised transport solution, building ownership of systems to ensure sustained reach to the rural poor by governments and communities past the program funding phase.
- Social Impact: Riders for Health Liberia has been transporting an average of 3500 samples/month reaching a peak of a 5053 samples/month during the heightened Ebola surveillance. Before Riders 75% of the samples took more than 24 hours to reach laboratories, with Riders for Health involvement an average of 78% of samples arrive at laboratories within 24 hrs utilising a new innovative relay system to respond to the large distances.
- Contributors: ministries of health (MoHs), UN agencies, US government agencies, and other health-focused non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
- Website: https://ridersintl.org
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ridersforhealth
