Riders For Health (RFH) - The Gambia, an international NGO whose role is to manage transport for improved health delivery system in the country Tuesday presented to the government of The Gambia, their prestigious international award dubbed ‘Best transport achievement award 2012’ which was received at the recent UFS and Fleet Annual Conference.

The award, which was handed over to the vice president and minister of Women’s Affairs, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy at her office in State House, described The Gambia as the first African country to secure reliable access to primary health care for its rural population.

Speaking to reporters after presenting the award to the vice president, Cherno Jallow, programme director at RFH-The Gambia explained that it is an international NGO and a social enterprise that support the government to reach out to unreachable communities.

He recalled that they presented 26 ambulances, seven tracking vehicles and nine motorcycles to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in 2009.  “We always support governments, as in Africa, governments need transports to meet their health service needs to reach out to their communities,” he remarked.

While admitting that staying at the top level is always a challenge, Jallow promised that they would do as much as they can. He revealed that they are presently partnering with government to bring nine more ambulances, 16 motorcycles and 10 tracking vehicles for the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. “Our efforts are to bring in more vehicles to support government to do their work effectively,” he added.

He finally acknowledged that the government is also very committed to the agreements being signed.