Institute For The Future

Motorcycle Ambulances in Sudan

The Ministry of Health in south Sudan has released 5 motorcycles complete with sidecar and padded bed to act as ambulances for pregnant women. The motorcycles were donated by UNICEF for about $6,000 a piece.

Southern Sudan has the worst rate of maternal mortality in the world. 90% of people live on less than a dollar a day and cannot afford to travel to clinics for medical help. According to UNICEF, only 10% of all deliveries are assisted by trained medical personal, and a woman from southern Sudan has a 1 in 6 chance of dying during childbirth throughout her life. These are frightening numbers.

A motorcycle ambulance is a brilliant idea. I’ll never forget the very surreal look of a rundown and broken ambulance parked in the sub-district hospital on Oloitokitok, Kenya. I rode in it once, but not for a medical emergenct. Rather, it was on the way to a funeral of a baby who died hours before her mother’s scheduled cesarean. In the two years I lived in Oloitokitok I don’t think I ever saw the ambulance being used. Most people prefer to use a motorcycle as they can navigate unpaved roads quickly and tend to be cheap.

As UNICEF monitors the effectiveness of the motorcycle ambulance, I would love to see them spread to other rural areas in Africa.