MONEY spent on health research risks being wasted unless there is a commitment to creating sustainable means of delivering reliable health care to villages in the developing world, the boss of a Northamptonshire charity has warned global health leaders.
Andrea Coleman, CEO of Pitsford-based charity Riders for Health, addressed the Global Forum for Health Research in Havana, Cuba, yesterday to discuss an issue the charity believes is routinely ignored by the international development community.
Up
to three in five people in developing countries live more than 8km from a health facility, with the majority having no access to transport of their own, meaning unless transport systems are put in place any advances made through health research will fail to benefit the most vulnerable communities.
Founded by Andrea and her husband Barry, Riders for Health has 20 years experience working with ministries of health in Africa to put systems of maintenance, logistics and training in place to make sure reliable health care can be delivered successfully even in rural communities.
Mrs Coleman said: “The advances being discussed at this forum give us all hope for the future but we must make sure the most vulnerable do not miss out on these opportunities.
“If only a fraction of the money spent by the development community was invested into creating effective transport in Africa we could have a huge impact on diseases that have been not been seen in the developed world for decades,” she added. For more information on the work of Riders for Health visit
www.riders.org.
