Community Managed and Alternative Transport
In many rural areas strong motorised transport is often unavailable or unaffordable by poor people. Transaid is working with communities to provide alternative and innovative solutions.
More than 60% of people live in developing countries live more than 8 km from a healthcare facility and the need for timely and highly responsive healthcare services is made more urgent by the HIV/AIDS crisis in many countries. High transport costs and the absence of emergency transport services are a barrier to accessing health services for people living in remote areas.
Traditional methods of walking, using a push bike or rounding up an ox-cart to transport patients are often inappropriate and time consuming, which can lead to loss of life due to the delay in reaching professional healthcare. Research has indicated that a large percentage of the three mortality rates (infant, child and maternal) could be reduced by providing or supporting alternative modes of transport.
Transaid is developing appropriate technology to provide innovative solutions. An initial bicycle ambulance project was piloted in Malawi and Zambia, and was rolled out to Eastern Province in Zambia in 2009. Transaid also piloted a motorcycle ambulance trailer in Nigeria to transport maternal cases in Nigeria where no emergency ambulance service existed. In 2010 Transaid partnered with Society for Family Health and a local taxi drivers union in Nigeria to offer an emergency transport scheme for pregnant women using volunteer taxi drivers from within the local community.
Alternative modes of transport are extremely important for people living in remote and relatively inaccessible areas and offer a low cost and environmentally sustainable solution that can be managed at the local community level.
Since being launched, our emergency transport scheme in Nigeria has seen over 3000 women transported to health facilities. Click here to read the stories of just some of the women who have benefited from this project.
*Transaid, Bicycle Ambulance Project 2008-2009 - Final Report
Current and past projects:
Afghanistan
• Afghanistan, Access to Maternal Health Services, Charharkint District, Jun. 2010
Madagascar
• Madagascar, Improving Access to Maternal Health In Remote Areas, Aug. 2011
Malawi
• Malawi and Zambia, Bicycle Ambulances, 2003-2005
• Malawi, Supporting the Landirani Trust to Provide Access to Health for Orphans, Aug. 2010
Nigeria
• Emergency Transport Scheme for Pregant Women, Jan 2010 -
Zambia
• Zambia, Access to Maternal Health, Oct. 2010 - Present
• Zambia, Bicycle Ambulance Project, Sept. 2008 – Mar. 2009
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