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News

16 New Bikes Added

16 new bikes were added on the 5th of July 2023 and were distributed to all the 15 counties of Liberia to replace old bikes.  Motorcycle’s Life span 3 years and/or 36,000km according to manufacturer’s recommendations and  maintenance schedules in normal road conditions. However, Riders for Health-Liberia uses a well-designed planned-preventive maintenance modular system backed by effective training of the motorcycles users, enabling motorcycles to reach over 50,000km and/or 5yrs before replacement is required in Liberia’s harsh terrain conditions. When not managed at all motorcycles used in harsh terrains struggle to get past 10,000km.  There are 50 motorcycles currently utilised to transport specimen under the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) basically specimen with outbreak potential. 

Riders for Health Liberia facilitated a one-day conference on Integrated Specimen Transport

Riders for Health Liberia organized and facilitated a one-day stakeholder meeting on national integrated specimen transporton 28 August 2023. The objective of the meeting was to solicit stakeholders’ inputs and determine a suitable sustainability model for Liberia diagnostic integrated specimen transport network using the One Health Approach.  The meeting was attended by Ministry of Health HQrepresentatives, MoH County representatives, Heads of MoH TB and HIVand NDD, National Public Health Institute, the National Reference Laboratory, Representatives from WHO, USCDC, MoA, UNFAO, USAID, LCM/Global Fund, IDDS, EFENET, AFL

Riders for Health Liberia facilitated a one-day conference on Integrated Specimen Transport

Riders for Health Liberia led by the Country Director Mr. Joseph G. Mehdeh was amongst the participants in the Liberia 2nd Joint External Evaluation (JEE) at the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex from the 4th -8th of September 2023. The purpose of the meeting was to examine and measure Liberia’s Health Security System from 2016 on the how it was conforming to the International Health Regulation and Universal Health Coverage instruments using the World Health Organisation Joint External Evaluation Tools.
Riders remains at the Center of Specimen Transportation system for disease detection & response in Liberia.

Riders for Health Liberia Featured in Publications and Articles

  • https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/healthprotection/fieldupdates/winter-2017/liberia-motorcycle.html
  • Riders for Health- Liberia was noted in 2018  as a “Success story” by the Global Health Securities Agenda (GHSA)  https://www.ghsagenda.org/…/motorcycles-help-speed-diagnosis.
  • RFHL ST System is highly acclaimed nationally by the (NPHIL), The CHTS, MoH and Local partners in Liberia including WHO as a robust, flexible, and reliable specimen transport system sustaining a network of health facilities-laboratory linkages.
  • Academics undertook a comparative economic study of the costs and cost-effectiveness of Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) versus motorcycles in Liberia, for transportation of laboratory samples.  The Lancet article concludes motorcycles are cheaper than drones for sample transport. Uncrewed aircraft systems versus motorcycles to deliver laboratory samples in west Africa: a comparative economic study (Feb 2020). https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(19)30464-4/fulltext#seccestitle180
  • Beating Ebola Requires Stronger Collaboration, Action and Infrastructure- by Judith Monroe (Aug 2019);https://insidesources.com/beating-ebola-requires-stronger-collaboration-action-and-infrastructure/
  • Establishing Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) diagnostics using GeneXpert technology at a mobile laboratory in Liberia: Impact on outbreak response, case management and laboratory systems strengthening. January 5  2018. https://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0006135