World Bank organises Transport for Health Access Workshop

In the context of the multisector aspects of the World Bank new Health Strategy and the Transport Business Strategy for 2008-2012, the World Bank's Transport and Social Responsibility Thematic Group organised a workshop on June 18 to create a platform for reviewing current knowledge on the main transport-related barriers to maternal health and child care as well as some of the transport interventions to improve access.

Attended by participants from private sector, civil society and multilateral organisations the discussions focused on the role of transport within the broader context of health referral systems, reviewing experiences with community transport interventions; the role of non-motorised transport such as bicycles as convenient and cost efficient means of transport; and other experiences that can lead to an improvement in the quality and efficiency of transport systems to improve health, while reducing maternal and child mortality in particular.

IFRTD presented some of the preliminary results from the Asia studies of the Mobility and Health International Networked Research Programme.  

The workshop also discussed some key recommendations for the World Bank and invited partners on what should be concrete short and longer-term steps for creating effective linkages between the health and the transport sectors of the World Bank and organisations concerned with health services provision.

All presentations and the full workshop agenda are available here.