In Zambia, long distances to the nearest health centre and a shortage of good transportation mean that many people struggle to get the care they need. Women in rural areas, for instance, identify distance to health facilities as the biggest barrier to receiving medical attention.

Community-based volunteers help to bring healthcare to rural areas. But without reliable transportation, they struggle to reach patients, leading to problems including inadequate disease testing, limited nutrition support for pregnant women and new mothers, and higher mortality rates.

World Bicycle Relief helps communities to overcome logistical challenges by providing hardy bicycles that help people, especially women and girls, to access healthcare, education and employment that would otherwise be out of reach. So far, the international charity has delivered a total of about 850,000 bicycles to communities in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In partnership with the Puma Energy Foundation, World Bicycle Relief’s will provide 391 Buffalo bicycles to improve healthcare delivery across six districts in rural Zambia. By using bicycles, health workers can reach more households faster, contributing to improved health outcomes in rural communities.

To keep the bicycles on the road, the programme will also train mechanics near targeted health centres, providing affordable repairs and creating additional income for local businesses. Community health volunteers can own the bicycles after two years as long as they take care of them and use them primarily for work, helping the programme to become self-sustaining.

World Bicycle Relief partners with a healthcare organisation that trains community health workers, and cooperates closely with the Zambian Ministry of Health. This helps align the programme with national health priorities, including reducing the spread of malaria.

Specifically, the partnership aims to:

• Reduce average travel time for health workers to reach local health facilities and patient homes by 45%;
• Enable health workers to serve 50% more patients; and
• Provide about 39,000 households, or about 200,000 people, with improved healthcare access

The Puma Energy Foundation already supported World Bicycle Relief’s programme through a 2021–2023 partnership that provided hundreds of bicycles to families in a poverty-affected district of central Zambia.

Visit the World Bicycle Relief website

Photo Credits: World Bicycle relief and Mana Meadows.