Barry Coleman
Accelerating healthcare to millions
Graveyards of broken down vehicles.
Women in labor being transported to hospitals in wheel barrows.
These conditions spurred Barry Coleman’s non-profit organization, Riders for Health, based on one simple idea – to maintain a safe and reliable health care system, we must maintain the vehicles used to deliver health care and essential medicines.
It’s often something as simple as replacing a $5 spark plug to keep vehicles running.
Riders for Health works with governments and partners in seven African countries to ensure that health transport vehicles are well-maintained so they stay in service. It’s often something as simple as replacing a $5 spark plug to keep vehicles running.
Riders for Health also tackles complex issues, such as designing a narrow vehicle that can travel down a narrow road into a rural village.
A reliable vehicle means a doctor can get to a clinic. It means a nurse can transport essential medicines to patients. And the impact is huge for the reproductive health of families in these communities. The reality is that an affordable and safe reproductive health product is not effective if it cannot reach the destination where it is needed most.
Barry says that Riders for Health offers a practical solution to a spectacularly overlooked problem. The organization’s singular focus is on making healthcare available while using local communities to devise local solutions. They have already improved access to healthcare for over 12 million people.
The availability of safe, affordable supplies that meet men’s and women’s RH needs. Supply availability is possible only when products feed into the supply chain and make their way to the point-of-distribution, where women and men can access them.