Innovative tricycle ambulances are transforming emergency healthcare in rural Ghana, providing fast and affordable transportation for pregnant women and other patients in communities where conventional ambulances are often unavailable.
The specially designed vehicles, developed by nonprofit organisation Moving Health, are helping reduce delays in accessing emergency medical care and are already improving maternal health outcomes in some of the country’s most remote areas.
Tricycle Ambulances Improve Emergency Healthcare in Ghana
For Billeh Rosemount, a 24 year old woman from northern Ghana, the tricycle ambulance became a lifesaver after she suffered a complicated miscarriage in October 2024.
She was experiencing severe bleeding at a local clinic, but a standard ambulance was unlikely to arrive in time because of the community’s poor road network and limited emergency services.
Instead, she was transported in a tricycle ambulance to a larger hospital, where she received emergency treatment and recovered.
Rosemount said the service prevented what could have become a tragic outcome, noting that many women in rural communities often have no choice but to deliver at home because transportation is unavailable.
Designed for Rural Communities
Unlike conventional ambulances, the tricycle ambulance is powered by a motorcycle engine, allowing it to travel through narrow and rough roads that larger vehicles cannot easily access.
Each vehicle is equipped with a full length stretcher, oxygen support, emergency childbirth kits and seating for a healthcare worker and a patient’s relative.
According to Moving Health, the ambulances have reduced travel time to hospitals from rural communities by about 64 percent, making it possible for critically ill patients to receive treatment much faster.
Tackling Maternal Deaths
Although Ghana has made progress in reducing maternal mortality, the country still recorded 234 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2023, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Health experts say women living in rural communities remain at greater risk because they often face long travel distances, poor road conditions and limited access to emergency transportation.
To address this challenge, Moving Health manufactures tricycle ambulances locally in northern Ghana at approximately one tenth the cost of a conventional ambulance.
The organisation also trains community health workers to coordinate emergency transport services.
Affordable Ambulances Built for Local Needs
Each tricycle ambulance costs about 7,000 dollars, compared with between 75,000 and 110,000 dollars for a standard ambulance.
The vehicles continue to evolve based on feedback from healthcare workers and local communities.
Recent upgrades include improved lighting for emergency childbirth during nighttime journeys, additional seating for relatives accompanying patients and reinforced suspension systems to withstand rough rural roads.
The ambulances also feature an online and offline GPS tracking system to improve coordination even in areas with unreliable mobile network coverage.
Expanding Access to Rural Healthcare
Moving Health currently operates 31 tricycle ambulances across five districts in northern Ghana, providing emergency healthcare access to more than 230,000 people.
The ambulances are also used to transport vaccines, support prenatal and postnatal healthcare services and connect remote communities with district hospitals.
Following a successful pilot programme completed in early 2026, the organisation plans to expand its operations nationwide in partnership with Ghana Health Service and the National Ambulance Service.
The nonprofit believes the model can also serve as a blueprint for improving emergency healthcare in other countries across sub Saharan Africa.
For residents like Rosemount, the impact is already clear.
She says the tricycle ambulance service has given rural families greater confidence that emergency medical help is now within reach and hopes more communities will benefit from the initiative.
