By Alinafe kapatamoyo

Lilongwe, January 22, Mana: Amref Health Africa, in collaboration with World Bicycle Relief, has handed over 111 bicycles to Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs).

The handover ceremony was held at Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe, recognizing the critical role Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) play in delivering essential healthcare services to rural communities.

The event follows the recent HSA graduation ceremony that was held in November 2024.

Speaking at the event the Project Manager for Amref Health Africa, Yani Samanyika clarified that it was very important to help the Ministry of Health on some of the challenges that the ministry is facing mostly on shortages of transport for HSAs that enable them to travel easily in communities where they provide health services to the people.

"In order to improve health services in communities we need to provide resources to the workers so that their job should be easily executed; that's why as Amref Health Africa we decided to help them by giving them bicycles so that they should be able to reach rural areas to provide health services to the people,” said Samanyika.

Also speaking at the event was the District Environmental Officer for Lilongwe District Council, Paul chunga who appreciated Amref Health Africa for the gift of bicycles and also the support that they have rendered to the health surveillance Assistants.

"This is good news for us and we thank Amref for the support that they have given us by handing over these bicycles to our HSAs, because this will help them to make their work easy when they are traveling to rural areas to provide health services,” said Chunga.

The Health Surveillance Assistants, recently completed a comprehensive one-year training program under the Health Workforce Project. This initiative was funded by the Pfizer Foundation, aimed to address gaps in community health care by enhancing the skills and knowledge of HSAs.

One of the HSAs also expressed gratitude to Amref for their support, stating that it will make their work easier, particularly when traveling to communities to provide health services.

"We are very happy with the handover of these bicycles to us because we were facing transportation challenges when traveling to rural areas where we provide health services to communities. With the coming of this donation our work will be so easier to reach a lot of communities,” the HSA noted.

The handover of these bicycles will enable HSAs to traverse challenging terrain and reach remote areas, facilitating timely and efficient delivery of healthcare services. This initiative is expected to significantly improve health outcomes, particularly in rural areas where access to healthcare is often limited.