In Zambia, about 15 percent of adults ages 15 to 49 are infected with HIV in this southern African nation; last year AIDS led to 56,000 deaths. Almost nobody owns a car in Zambia, and many of the sick live more than an hour’s walk from the nearest health care facility, hampering both routine and emergency care.
The miracle solution to this horrible health crisis? A bike.
That’s why World Bicycle Relief came to Boston University—to help research and quantify the impact of bikes in this poor area of Africa. A bicycle can be a lifesaver, bringing health care workers to their patients, serving as an ambulance, and helping families that have lost a breadwinner to AIDS survive economically by allowing them to ferry farm goods to market or start a bicycle taxi service.
