Riders for Health Launches Program in the Gambia

By: ChrisWorden

Posted: 04/16/09

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CHICAGO – Riders for Health’s CEO and executive director, Andrea and Barry Coleman, joined their team in the Gambia to celebrate the launch of a groundbreaking new vehicle leasing program, Transport Asset Management (TAM). The new program is a partnership between Riders for Health, the Skoll Foundation, the Gambian Department of State for Health and Social Welfare (DoSH), GT Bank and the Global Fund. On February 19, her Excellency Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, vice president and secretary of state for women's affairs, joined the launch on behalf of President Jammeh at the July 22nd Square in Banjul, Gambia.

TAM is the first program of its kind in Africa. Vehicle leasing is common-place in the developed world, but without Riders’ knowledge and the resources to maintain vehicles in the harsh conditions in Africa, the vehicles will fail prematurely and the leasing system cannot be sustained.

TAM utilizes Riders’ unique cost-per-kilometer calculation and its award-winning program for training, vehicle management and maintenance. Riders purchases the vehicles then leases them to a government agency which enables governments to avoid large capital expenditures. Riders maintains the vehicles including rotating in new units as needed during the life of the agreement.

As part of the program, Riders is providing the DoSH with a brand new fleet of more than 240 vehicles. Each health center in the Gambia now has an ambulance for referrals, a trekking vehicle for outreach clinics and several motorcycles for public health care workers. For the first time health workers can reach every man, woman and child with the health care they need, no matter how remote their village.

The vehicles will be maintained by Riders’ dedicated technicians in its established system, which ensures the vehicles never break down, even in the tough conditions in rural Gambia.

It is thanks to the support of motorcyclists in the USA and around the world that Riders is able to introduce this program into the Gambia. Riders for Health opened its US office in Chicago in 2008. The office is headed by professional fundraiser, Lisa Bakker.

With individual and foundation support, over the last 20 years Riders has built up the experience of how to manage vehicles in Africa, and in the Gambia it has created the infrastructure and team of technicians to make TAM possible.

Since 2002, Riders has provided preventive maintenance for motorcycles and four-wheel vehicles belonging to DoSH in the Gambia. Its work in the Gambia has made a big difference to the health of that country. Between 2002 and 2005 the Gambia saw a 261% increase in diagnoses of diarrhea, a 75% increase in diagnoses of acute respiratory infection, and the proportion of fully immunized infants rose from over 10% to 73%.

The Gambia regularly has health statistics well above the average for sub-Saharan Africa, yet, there is much to do. One of the biggest killers in the Gambia is malaria. yet one-in-every-three children with a fever does not receive the anti-malarial drugs they need and one-in-ten still dies before their fifth birthday.

According to Alieu Sonko, the officer in charge at the health center at Brikama, “TAM will make things so much better for us. At the moment we only have one vehicle for referrals and for trekking. We often have to interrupt or postpone outreach clinics to do an emergency referral.” Now Alieu and his colleagues will always be able to carry out their outreach clinics.

Alieu added, “At an outreach clinic you can see many people at the same time. You can diagnose illness early, and provide medication and information. It’s very cost-effective and means that we can reach our targets.”

Riders’ TAM program is a sustainable and scalable solution for delivering health care in Africa. The program can be used to manage a fleet of vehicles for the largest ministry of health or six motorcycles used to mobilize community volunteers providing care to people living with HIV.

The launch of TAM is a fantastic achievement, but there are still millions of people in Africa who do not receive regular, predictable health care. Riders' goal is to reach a further 10 million people by 2010, and to do this it needs the help of USA motorcyclists. Soon you will hear about fundraising events to be held this summer in the United States to support Riders efforts while aligning it into the motorcycle community. You can always make a contribution online at www.riders.org.

About Riders for Health II, Inc.

Riders for Health is an international, non-governmental organization born out of the world of motorcycle racing. Its mission is to ensure that health workers in Africa have uninterrupted access to reliable transportation. Without such transportation, all health care projects fail. Using an innovative social enterprise model, Riders has developed a practical, dynamic approach which is helping to achieve real and sustainable development. It has put in place reliable preventive maintenance systems for two- and four-wheeled vehicles used in health care delivery allowing health workers to reach rural villages time and time again. Riders is supported in the USA by Riders for Health II, Inc. which has 501(c)3 status. To learn more visit www.riders.org.

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