The first case of coronavirus was announced in Uganda on March 21. This has led to a growing list of preventive measures which were live announced by President Museveni on national television. These strict measures are crucial and a good start, especially in light of the poor health care system in Uganda. Uganda has only 55 intensive care beds for its more than 42 million people. Of these, 20 have respiratory equipment and only a third is part of the public health care system. So stopping (or slowing down) the spread of the coronavirus is priority number one in Uganda.

The fight against the spread of the coronavirus is fought on the streets and in households, from the rural isolated areas to the informal settlements in Uganda’s urban centers. And the (voluntary) health workers in the community are the main defense against (the feared spread of) the coronavirus. However, they find it difficult to do their job because they do not have transport and public transport has been shut down as one of the measures to combat the spread of the corona virus. A bicycle makes the difference! A bicycle improves the mobility of these heroes who, in the villages and slums, explain to people about the corona virus and what to do and what not to do. They take away fear, take away fake news and monitor possible outbreaks.

CORONABIKE

Cycling out of Poverty has therefore decided to equip health volunteers and other medical personnel with bicycles. In collaboration with the authorities and the Covid-19 response team, we select where the bikes have the most impact in the fight against corona.

The first Corona bike was handed over to Dr. Kaluma Charles for his team at Kamu Medical Health Center in Jinja, Uganda.

URGENT NEED TO MOBILISE HEALTH WORKERS TO FIGHT CORONAVIRUS IN UGANDA

We urgently need to mobilise more rural frontline health workers. Every 125 euro donated provides a life-changing bicycle. Every little donation helps!

Bank details of "Stichting Cycling out of Poverty" are: SNS Bank account number: 90.61.46.356, IBAN: NL68 SNSB 0906146356, Swift code: SNSBNL2A