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| WHO ARE WE SUPPORTING? | RIDERS FOR HEALTH |
| WHICH COUNTRY IS THE GRANT GOING TO? | LESOTHO |
| HOW LONG IS THE GRANT PERIOD? | 4 YEARS, 2007-2011 |
| HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL WE HELP? | 120 RIDERS |
At the 2007 White Tie & Tiara Ball, Dr Mphu Ramatlepeng, Minister of Health for Lesotho, told guests of the HIV/AIDS crisis facing her country - one third of Lesotho’s 1.8m population were HIV positive and 90% of people living with HIV/AIDS also had tuberculosis. Life expectancy stood at just 34 years. At the Ball, EJAF asked guests to support an innovative programme known as Riders for Health, and were overwhelmed by the generosity of the pledges. New York Times writers Tina Rosenberg and David Bornstein take up the story:
Click here to read the full New York Times article
EJAF purchased 120 motorbikes with the funds raised at the Ball to be used by doctors, nurses and community health workers to bring healthcare to remote local communities.
The motorbikes have brought healthcare to communities in a cheaper and more reliable way than building more clinics. Home-based care for TB patients has also become feasible with the use of reliable transport - stopping the spread of drug-resistant TB to HIV/AIDS patients and the wider community. Antiretroviral treatments can be regularly and reliably delivered and health education, condoms and other preventive measures can be easily accessed by communities. Riders for Health provide the training and maintenance infrastructure to ensure that the transport fleet continue working predictably, reliably and cost-effectively for their full working lives.
The Riders for Health programme is an ongoing success and EJAF have been proud to support it since 2007.
For more information on Riders for Health please visit their website at: www.riders.org