How bicycles are bridging the healthcare gap in rural Africa
The Mobility Solutions World Bicycle Relief (WBR) in partnership with various organizations has helped bridge the gap between the healthcare providers and the communities ensuring no one is left behind in the pursuit of Universal Health Coverage.
Equipping community health workers (CHWs) with bicycles across 10 countries in Africa has proved to be a cost-effective and sustainable solution even as they strive to serve the community effectively as distance remains one of the greatest obstacles to healthcare access.
Mobility Solutions World Bicycle Relief (WBR) in partnership with various organisations has helped bridge the gap between the healthcare providers and the communities ensuring no one is left behind in the pursuit of Universal Health Coverage.
Since its founding in 2005, World Bicycle Relief has distributed more than 191,830 Buffalo Bicycles to health workers in 10 countries, accelerating progress and magnifying the impact of critical healthcare programs.
The bicycles ensure CHWs spend less time in transit and more time with patients—delivering vaccines, medicines, and family planning services, ensuring compliance with TB and HIV medication, and helping transport women in labor and critically ill patients via bicycle ambulances.
At the recently concluded Africa Health Agenda International Conference (AHAIC) 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda, mobility emerged as a critical yet often overlooked component of community health work.
Health experts, policymakers, and CHWs will explored how equipping health workers with bicycles has accelerated access to life-saving care.
Despite significant investments in training, equipping, digitising, and remunerating CHWs, many still traverse long distances on foot, hindering their efficiency and reach.
Mobility poverty remains a critical barrier to effective healthcare delivery.
Maureen Kolenyo, Regional Director for East Africa at World Bicycle Relief, detailed the impact of bicycles on CHW productivity as she noted that World Bicycle Relief has distributed over 868,000 bicycles, significantly improving healthcare delivery.
“Bicycles are affordable, efficient, have a low impact on the environment, and are easy to use. We have insurmountable evidence to show that they transform healthcare delivery,” she stated.
According to Kolenyo, government policies should focus on purchasing durable bicycles and introducing motorcycles to improve supply chain efficiency.
For example, in Zambia, CHWs equipped with bicycles reported a 63 per cent increase in productivity, enabling them to reach more patients and enhance maternal and child health outcomes.
In Malawi, their approach to addressing CHW mobility challenges was shared by Precious Phiri from the country’s Public Health Division involves a roadmap where CHW motivation and transport are prioritized with support from partners like Amref Health Africa and the Red Cross.
Achieving an optimised health system requires strategic collaborations and political support from various governments.
The AHAIC 2025 session underscored that mobility is not just a logistical issue but a crucial enabler of health equity and effective service delivery.
As partners and governments continue their efforts to professionalize CHWs, addressing mobility poverty must remain a top priority.
As Africa advances towards UHC and PHC strengthening, mobility must be recognised not as an afterthought but as a fundamental enabler of efficient, professionalized CHWs.
