Abt Partners with World Bicycle Relief to Bring Healthcare to Ugandan Mothers

When providing health services in remote areas you’ve got to have reliable transportation. That’s why the international non-profit World Bicycle Relief partnered with Abt Global to provide 150 Buffalo Bicycles to the Abt-led USAID/Uganda Voucher Plus Activity’s local voucher distributers. World Bicycle Relief donated the bicycles and Abt distributed them to our health workers.

Voucher distributors travel long distances to reach poor mothers who often cannot be reached by paved roads. These community workers enroll mothers in the Voucher program so they can receive essential RMNCH services during pregnancy, delivery and the postnatal period.

The durable and simple-to-maintain Buffalo Bicycles will enable distributors to enroll more mothers in the voucher program,disseminate information on safe motherhood to a larger audience, and conduct more frequent follow-up visits with mothers to promote their well-being and that of their children.

In March, Ministry of Health Officials, local leaders, voucher beneficiaries and health facility proprietors attended bicycle handover events in Northern and Eastern Uganda to celebrate putting the Buffalo Bicycles into action! Following remarks from Ministry officials, Voucher distributers commented on the sturdiness of the bikes, as well as unique features that will ease riding.

District and community leaders remarked that these bikes will serve the health needs of the communities beyond the scope of the Voucher Plus Activity, as Village Health Teams will now have increased mobility in all of their work. To date, the Uganda Voucher Plus Activity has sold over 260,000 vouchers, provided more than 118,000 deliveries with skilled birth attendants and trained over 500 health workers on clinical quality improvement systems.