News & stories

Providing world-class vehicle management and healthcare mobilisation services to African nations, Riders were on the front line as the nations we work in responded to the outbreak COVID-19. 

Riders have established ourselves as world leaders in the management and maintenance of vehicles for health-focused organisations. Currently running transport programmes in five African countries, we have a reputation for exceptionally high standards. But how do we keep our quality of service high across multiple country programmes as time passes, staff change and systems evolve?

Riders’ countrywide network of health workers and emergency transport services has become more important than ever with the outbreak of Covid-19. 

Since 2013, Riders for Health have been the national sample transport operator in Malawi. With the outbreak of Covid-19, it was natural that we were tasked by the Malawian government with providing all sample transport to the nation in relation to the virus. 

Lesotho reported its first case of COVID-19 on 13th May, the last African country to do so. Numbers of cases are are rising and deaths are being reported daily. Two Wheels have been able to help fight the challenge faced by the Lesotho programme with motorcycles, ambulances, training, digital services and additional staff.

Riders have been transporting COVID-19 samples from seven health facilities in Kano State, northern Nigeria to laboratories and returning test results.

We have partnered with DataKind as part of our digital transformation programme to explore new and powerful ways to produce digital data from handwritten forms in an aim to create greater efficiencies in their healthcare delivery service and allow them to reach patients faster and more efficiently.

Unless the information and materials they need can reach people across Africa we will be witnessing a devastating picture. We can get to those communities using motorcycles.

Academics undertook a comparative economic study of the costs and cost-effectiveness of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) versus motorcycles in Liberia, for transportation of laboratory samples.

Managing transportation logistics are critical for keeping outbreaks at bay. The Liberian Ministry of Health now contracts with Riders for Health to manage its transportation logistics and fleet of vehicles. In 2017, they responded to 40 outbreaks identified across the country. These outbreaks could have spread widely had samples not reached the laboratories quickly.