Riders for Health International works to improve the capacity and efficiency of healthcare 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 healthcare and vital services. Riders for Health Nigeria helps organizations, government entities to design/implement a sustained, customized transport solution, building ownership of systems to ensure sustained reach to the rural poor by governments and communities past the program funding phase.
One of the greatest barriers to healthcare delivery in remote areas is transportation.
Riders for Health places vehicles on preventative maintenance schedules, eliminating breakdowns, reducing costs, and improving efficiency.
Andrea and Barry Coleman leveraged their love of motorcycles and motorcycle racing to transform health care in rural Africa.
Transport management solutions contribute to higher immunization rates and reduced maternal and child mortality.
Riders strengthen health systems in critical intervention areas including samples and results, emergency medical services, managing dangerous medical waste, and by undertaking community outreach. Riders build health systems by providing reliable transport and logistics and advocates to stretch the reach of these services.
Riders ensure that services are taken to vulnerable groups. Riders innovate to take needed services further. This includes innovations such as route optimization in Malawi to improve turnaround times, community outreach at the last mile, and community surveillance during disease outbreaks.
Co-founder, Riders for Health
Founder and board, Riders for Health
Andrea and Barry Coleman share a passion for motorcycles. Andrea is a former racer and Barry is a journalist and author. Through the racing world, they became involved in fundraising for children in Africa. Visiting the communities served by the charities they supported, Barry and Andrea noticed broken vehicles everywhere, many that could have been returned to service with minor repairs and maintenance. They saw women in childbirth being carried to the hospital in wheelbarrows, one of whom died during their visit. Frustrated that aid agencies abandoned vehicles rather than commit to basic repairs, the Colemans decided to fix the problem themselves. They re-mortgaged their house and founded Riders for Health, to ensure delivery of essential healthcare services to rural Africa, with a Transport Resource Management system that places vehicles on preventative maintenance schedules. The system virtually eliminates breakdowns, reduces costs, and greatly improves vehicle efficiency. By 2006, Riders had served about 10 million people, primarily in Zimbabwe, Nigeria and The Gambia, by maintaining about 1,300 vehicles. Much of this work was conducted through small contracts to provide service to regions or districts, or to vehicle fleets owned by health ministries or international agencies. Riders was also working to raise awareness of how reliable, consistent transport is crucial to effective health care delivery among ministries of health and the international health care funding community.
Riders have worked for over 30 years across Africa providing a suite of healthcare services to vulnerable groups and communities in need. Our solutions seek to improve health prognosis, provide emergency ambulances, and patient transport that save women and babies’ lives, outreach health services to the last mile, and medical waste management to protect the environment, people, and health facilities from infectious and hazardous waste. Riders also professionally manages ministry of health fleets to ensure that these vehicles are fit and managed for purpose in crucial health programs that save lives.
