Sample Transport: reducing the time delay in detecting, diagnosing and monitoring HIV and TB.
Riders’ Sample Transport model is an innovative motorcycle courier system reducing the time-delay in monitoring and diagnosing HIV/AIDS and TB.
About You
About You
First Name
Riders for Health
Last Name
Jennifer Parsons
Twitter URL
Facebook URL
About Your Organization
Organization Name
Riders for Health
Organization Website
Organization Country
United Kingdom
Country where this project is creating social impact
Lesotho
Is your organization a
Non‐profit/NGO/citizen sector organization
How long has your organization been operating?
More than 5 years
Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them
• 2004: Andrea and Barry Coleman join the elite Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship.
• 2005: Andrea and Barry Coleman are named 'Heroes of Global Health' by Time magazine.
• 2006: Riders is recognised with the Skoll Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneurs of the Year and as Tech Museum Laureates. • 2009: Riders receives the Third Sector Excellence Award in the category of social enterprise.
• 2011: Riders is announced as one of three winners for the International Health Promotion Awards in Rome, and are recognised as Highly Commended for the International Aid and Development category of The Charity Awards 2011.
References - Please provide two references with a two-sentence biography, email address, and phone number for each
Name: Mr Charles Bleehen
Address:
1-2 Marlborough Studios,
12 Finchley Road,
London
NW6 8EB
Telephone: 07770 995 664
Email: cbleehen@yahoo.com
Mr Bleehan is a Trustee of the Venture Partnership Foundation, who support Riders both financially and with strategic, planning consultancy.
Title: Mr Avnish Savjani
Organisation: Buzacott LLP
130 Wood Street London
EC2V 6DL
Position: Partner
E-mail: SavjaniA@buzzacott.co.uk
Tel:(0)20 7556 1200
Fax:(0)20 7556 1213
Mr Avnish is our audit partner.
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Innovation
Select the stage that best applies to your solution
Scaling (the next step will be growing impact on a regional or even global scale)
How long have you been in operation?
Operating for 1‐5 years
The Need: What problem are you trying to solve?
Laboratories are critical to the detection, timely diagnosis and treatment of communicable diseases like HIV and tuberculosis (TB). Yet in rural Africa these services are not easily accessible due to distance, road conditions and a lack of transportation. The result is that potentially hazardous specimens are often carried in improvised containers – at times a plastic bag – in non-specialist vehicles. This poses a serious health risk to those carrying the samples and to others using the same transport. It also means that specimens are not protected during the journey and are often spoiled in transit. The inherent time-delay leads to unacceptable patient waiting times. This not only impacts the health of individuals, but can also put entire communities at risk of infection.
The Solution: What is your solution? Be specific!
Riders for Health (Riders) is a social enterprise dedicated to achieving equitable health care access. Our mission is to strengthen health systems by addressing one of the most neglected aspects of development for the health of Africa – transport and logistics. The Sample Transport (ST) model is a key part of this and was designed, at partner request, to address the bottleneck in primary-level laboratory service access. To do this, Riders recruits and trains specialist motorcycle couriers whose role is to collect diagnostic specimens from health centres and deliver them to the designated laboratory. Post-analysis, the results are returned to the health centre – which allows for expedited follow-up care. All vehicle fleets are managed in-line with Riders’ ‘zero-breakdown’ system and each ST courier is trained in vehicle maintenance and road safety. This process is supported by Riders’ own technicians who deliver outreach maintenance in accordance with an agreed service schedule.
The Model: Walk us through a specific example of how your solution makes a difference; include your primary activities
The ST programme aims to reduce the delay in monitoring and diagnosing HIV and TB by bringing reliability to the collection/delivery of samples and the return of results. Initially focused across Lesotho’s 155 health centres, programme development can be outlined as follows:
2007/8: At partner request, Riders allocate 30 motorcycles to the development of the first-ever ST model in Lesotho. Qacha’s Nek district is set-up as a pilot region.
Jan/Aug 2009: Riders works in collaboration with the Ministry of Health to roll out the ST model nationwide.
-Directly preceding each new district, Riders’ in-country team visit each health centre to develop service routes and prepare for project implementation.
-District by district, Riders recruits local couriers with specific knowledge of the terrain. Each courier then completes two-weeks training in road safety and vehicle maintenance.
-All couriers receive route-specific instruction and train in professional sample handling.
Sept 2009: ST becomes a fully-operational nationwide programme. Regular outreach maintenance ensures the provision of reliable service.
Present: All health centres across Lesotho now receive a weekly ST service. This strengthens public health services by ensuring that the country’s 2 million men, women and children have access to laboratory testing. By improving the turnaround time of test results, Riders is helping to reduce the number of patients defaulting on follow-up care/treatment regimes, build public trust in the health system and increase the demand for testing.
The Marketplace: Who are your peers and competitors? Identify others also working to address the needs you are and what differentiates you from them. What challenges could these players pose to your success or growth?
It is often not commercially viable for private-sector corporations, such as DHL, to operate sample referral systems that extend beyond a district/provincial level. Primary-level coping mechanisms have evolved to fill the inherent gap, but Riders remains unique in that we offer a bespoke solution to enable ‘last mile’ laboratory service access. Riders does not set-up its systems in parallel and it is our aim to compliment and strengthen existing health infrastructures. As a result, the ST model has been specifically designed to be cost-effective, eliminate waste, build in-country capacity and maximise stakeholder resources. As such it has shown itself to be more appropriate for development (particularly for government ministries) than any other service.
This Entry is about (Issues)
Social Impact
Founding Story: We want to hear about your "Aha!" moment. Share the story of where and when the founder(s) saw this solution's potential to change the world.
Riders began when people working in the grand prix paddock began fundraising for children in developing countries. In the late 1980s, Barry and Andrea Coleman, and GP racer Randy Mamola, were invited to Africa to see the impact of this donation. Here, they noticed that vehicles intended for health care delivery had broken down, and that many life-saving services were at a standstill. Recognising the situation as unacceptable, Riders for Health was borne.
In 2008, Riders’ partners in Lesotho voiced the need for a reliable system of sample transportation. Though the request lay outside core operations, Riders immediately allocated 30 bikes to programme development. The programme has seen overwhelming results - with our ST couriers collectively transporting over 2,000 samples and results each week, and many health centres reporting an increased demand for testing. At this point, we knew that ST was a sustainable solution with the potential to transform thousands of lives.
Please describe the goal of your initiative; outline what you are trying to achieve
Riders’ vision if of a world in which no-one will die of an easily preventable or curable disease because barriers of distance, terrain or poverty stop them from being reached. Our ST model is a key part of a wider organisational strategy to achieve this change. Vehicle maintenance is not glamorous, but Riders persists in bringing this fundamental issue to the forefront of health care development. A confirmed health impact supports governments and the wider development community in understanding and prioritising transport management. This will help to ensure that every major global health initiative includes managed transportation as an integral part of its work - and of a country’s health system. An essential step towards achieving equitable health care access.
What has been the impact of your solution to date?
Building on success in Lesotho, the ST model has expanded into regions of Zambia and Zimbabwe – improving laboratory service access for an estimated 2.5 million people. Impact includes:
• Increased reliability of sample collection/results delivery: Health centres know when to expect results and can ensure timely follow-up care. All health facilities in Lesotho have a weekly ST service.
• Quicker turnaround of results: All regions involved with ST have seen a decrease in average turn-around time (sample collection/return of result) of up to 50%.
• Reduction in sample rejection: Professional handling means fewer specimens are spoiled in transit. 100% of health centres interviewed have reported a notable reduction in sample rejection.
• Improved health centre attendance and patient testing: This is due to increased trust in health services. In Zambia, health centres have seen a 114% increase in patient attendance and a 150% increase in samples/results being transported.
What is your projected impact over the next five years?
Riders’ five-year strategy is focused on scaling-up operational growth (in both existing and new country programmes) and thus enabling our partners to reach millions more people with the delivery of key health interventions in the poorest regions of Africa. In-line with these objectives, Riders has set the ambitious target of expanding our services to have improved health care access for 20 million people by 2015. Our ST programme is a key part of this. Over the next five years, we aim to:
• Expand on Riders’ existing ST programmes in Zambia and Zimbabwe.
• Build the ST mode into others existing country programmes, including Kenya and Nigeria.
• Build brand new partnerships and pilot the Sample Transport courier model in new territories - Malawi in particular.
Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
We aim to expand ST into Kenya – an existing territory. This will involve the set-up of a small-scale pilot in three districts.
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1
To complete a baseline study and needs assessment in each of the pilot districts.
Task 2
To procure motorcycles, recruit and train couriers in safe driving, basic vehicle maintenance and professional sample handling.
Task 3
To build on existing infrastructure in Kisumu so that technical staff can deliver regular outreach maintenance to the fleet.
Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
To have 10 ST couriers operating across Kenya’s Nyanza province, providing a service with potential to support 850,000 people.
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1
The provision of a reliable and consistent ST service across three districts of Kenya’s Nyanza province.
Task 2
The regular delivery of outreach maintenance (once every three months) to all courier vehicles by Riders’ trained technicians.
Task 3
The continued review and assessment of programme development through our robust M&E system.
Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships
ST is a multi-stakeholder project that can only work as a partnership operation and Riders continues to work closely with partners in Lesotho, Zambia and Zimbabwe to develop an appropriate service that meets identified needs. Riders has learnt the importance of stakeholder involvement and the practicalities implicit when developing such a project. Communication is essential and all programme targets are developed as an integral part of partnership agreements. Such a constructive working relationship is pivotal to the overall success of the ST programme.
Are you currently targeting other specific populations, locations, or markets for your innovation? If so, where and why?
Riders’ work is focused on improving health care access for rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa. We work in eight countries, all of which are within the lowest 25% of the 2011 Human Development Index. Within this scope, the ST programme supports people living with HIV/AIDS, the early infant diagnosis of HIV and the expedited detection/treatment on TB. At present, the ST model operates across Lesotho and in regions of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Riders continues to target markets in existing and new country territories that will benefit from improved laboratory access at a primary level.
What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?
Every year, 1.8 million people die from HIV/AIDS, with 20% of deaths due to co-infection with TB. Riders believes that if we are to overcome such challenges, we must support health-focused organisations in strengthening their delivery platforms. The ST model is a prime example of this ethic. Throughout programme development, Riders listened to and learnt from those working on the ground. Driven by our belief in transport for development, we developed a bespoke solution that enabled us to better serve our partners and respond to their specific needs, whilst retaining focus on our core mission statement. Leveraging 20 years experience towards this new challenge, we have created a sustainable solution that expedites the detection, diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS and TB.
Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list
Riders are continuously looking to improve the efficiency and quality of the service we offer so as to leverage a positive health impact. We often work with external consultants on a pro bono basis, who have supported us in areas of operations, fundraising and law.
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 | 15 weeks agoRiders for Health Jennifer Parsons updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoRiders for Health Jennifer Parsons updated this Competition Entry. |
| 16 weeks agoRiders for Health Jennifer Parsons submitted this idea. |
