Hospital ship docks for ten months in Sierra Leone
Mercy Ship update
SIERRA LEONE: Having aligned its programme to the Sierra Leone’s healthcare plan, the Global Mercy, the newest Mercy Ship has docked at the Queen Elizabeth II Quay in Freetown to begin a ten-month stopover until June 2024 during which free specialised surgeries will be performed and training for healthcare professionals will be provided.
Welcoming the vessel to the country, President Julius Maada Bio, said that he collaboration with Mercy Ships “reflects our vision of a resilient healthcare system in Sierra Leone”.
This is the sixth visit to Sierra Leone by one of Mercy Ships’ vessels. “We’ve had a long-standing partnership, beginning with our first field service here in 1992 on the hospital ship, the Anastasis. Since then, we returned from 2001 to 2004, and again in 2011. Now, in 2023, hope and healing will come anew as some 2,350 safe, free surgeries will be performed on board the Global Mercy,” notes Gert van de Weerdhof, CEO of Mercy Ships.
The life-changing surgeries delivered will include tumour removal, cleft lip and palate correction, cataract removal, orthopaedics and reconstructive plastics. Patients have been encouraged to attend screening days to receive appointments for their specific surgical needs. Patient selection teams have already registered and assessed patients in eight locations, both upcountry and in the greater Freetown area, in preparation for the ship’s arrival.
In collaboration with national and international partners, Mercy Ships will provide education and training across the surgical ecosystem for more than 200 local healthcare professionals who will add capacity long after the ship leaves. The emphasis of these programmes will focus on surgery, nursing, biomedical, sterile processing, and anesthesia.
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