MPs get bike message

Charity Riders for Health will launch a campaign at the House of Commons this week to highlight the life-saving contribution of reliable motorcycles in aid efforts in Africa.

The charity believes the issue of transporting aid has been overlooked at a time when the Africa Commision plans to secure increases in aid to Africa by $50bn. Riders – MCN’s favourite charity – believes countless development programmes have failed because aid, healthcare and healthworkers have been unable to reach the people that need help.

They point out that a single public healthworker with a reliable motorcycle can reach 20,000 people on a regular basis with vital healthcare.

Riders has installed nationwide transport infrastructures in Nigeria, the Gambia and Zimbabwe. One of the poorest districts in Zimbabwe became probably the only district in Africa in which every outreach health worker had a fully-functioning motorcycle. Research suggests this contributed to a 20 per cent drop in malaria rates.

The Riders campaign will target key figures in the development sector, and will be launched with a week-long exhibition inside the House of Commons, to be opended by Hugh Bayley, MP, Chair of the All-Party Africa Group, on November 23.