Riders for Health (Riders) improves access to health care for rural populations by providing transportation services – including vehicle management, training and support services – to national governments and health care delivery organizations in Africa. Riders enables the existing health care system to be more effective by managing and maintaining a transport network of motorcycles and vehicles, which links the different elements of the health care system together. Certified instructors combine theoretical and practical training to deliver courses at all levels of expertise, specializing in training health workers who utilize vehicles to reach communities, particularly over rough roads and difficult terrain. Workers are trained not only to ride, but also to perform their own maintenance and basic repairs, and to adhere to rigorous safety standards. By equipping these riders with a motorcycle and providing appropriate training and maintenance, health workers are able to increase coverage and enhance health care accessibility to their respective populations. Riders provides additional support services, including supply chain distribution, diagnostic sample transport, and medical emergency transportation.

Source: https://socialinnovationinhealth.org/case-studies/riders-for-health-2

Positive and sustained changes resulting from social innovative approaches depend on interactions between the innovators and the environment, either within small local communities or in larger regional areas, and on community commitment and investment in such programmes. Although van Stam proposed a three-step community engagement process for social innovation, the duration for local adaptation of a given project or approach often depends on the specific intervention being delivered within a community setting. Initial sensitisation about a given health condition and awareness creation within communities, empowerment of local stakeholders, and subsequent skills development, community education and implementation, can be particularly complex for preventive efforts. In contrast, interventions related to logistics, such as improved mechanisms for drug distribution or the delivery of pathology results, may move faster. For example, the Riders for Health initiative, which began operating in Lesotho and extended to Liberia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, the Gambia and Nigeria, required government support but was not dependent on community engagement for operation and success (https://socialinnovationinhealth.org/case-studies/riders-for-health-2/). Accordingly in this case community engagement followed from the success of the intervention, rather than being essential to its introduction.

Source: https://idpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40249-020-00721-3

Ministry of Health has commended a non-governmental organisation (NGO) Riders for Health (R4H) for its work in improving the capacity and efficiency of health care delivery in Malawi.

The ministry’s Principal Secretary Charles Mwansambo made the remarks during the rebranding of the organisation to R4H that also coincided with World Aids Day commemorations on Tuesday.

He commended the NGO, with the Department of Diagnostics in the Directorate of Health Technical Support Services, for transporting specimen from sites in various parts of the country for analysis in the laboratories.

Said Mwansambo: “Currently, samples originate from 690 sites nationwide.

They relate to tests such as viral load, early infant diagnosis and Covid-19. Special mention is made of the involvement of Riders for Health in the distribution.”

On her part, R4H country director Mphatso Kachule said the NGO has fundamentally changed the time within which samples are collected and delivered in rural Malawi.

She said: “There are a number of success stories we are proud of. The consistency in terms of how often we visit health centres is one of them.”

Established in Malawi in 2011, R4H specialises in the management of vehicles for health care and other public services in conditions in which there is no widespread network of vehicle-maintenance facilities.

 

Source- https://www.mwnation.com/ministry-salutes-riders-for-health