Monday 13 August 2018: Medical charity Mercy Ships has docked in Conakry, Guinea to spend ten months providing free life-changing healthcare for the Guinean people.
Mercy Ships plans to provide 2 to 2.5 thousand life-changing surgeries on board, to treat over 8,000 at a land-based dental clinic as well as provide healthcare training to local medical professionals. This is the fourth time a Mercy Ship has docked in Guinea.
Surgical specialties offered on board the hospital ship, Africa Mercy, include maxillofacial, plastic reconstructive, women’s health, paediatric orthopaedics, general, and ophthalmic (adult and paediatric).
“The Africa Mercy has five operating rooms, a CAT scan machine, full labs, ward beds for 82, and a volunteer crew who not only volunteer their time but pay for their own room and board as well as their flights to and from Africa,” said Alan Burrll, managing director of Mercy Ships Australia.
The ship reflects the diversity of the nations it helps, with over 40 countries represented in the crew.
Mercy Ships not only delivers medical services but also drives sustainable change. In Guinea, Mercy Ships will provide training to local health care professionals in essential surgical skills, obstetric anaesthesia, paediatric anaesthesia, primary trauma care, essential pain management, biomedical equipment care, neonatal resuscitation, the Ponseti method, and the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist.
Volunteer professionals will also mentor maxillofacial teams, surgeons, surgical nurses, anaesthesia providers and sterile processing staff and run a nutritional agriculture training course.
A country of 12 million people, Guinea has one doctor per 10,000 people. Guinea’s mineral wealth makes it potentially one of Africa’s richest countries, but its people are among the poorest in West Africa.
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About Mercy Ships
Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free, world-class health care services, capacity building and sustainable development aid to those without access in the developing world. Founded in 1978, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countries providing services valued at more than $1.3 billion, with more than 2.56 million direct beneficiaries. Each year, more than 1,200 volunteers from over 40 nations serve with Mercy Ships. Professionals including surgeons, dentists, nurses, health care trainers, teachers, cooks, seamen, engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills to the effort. Mercy Ships seeks to transform individuals and serve nations one at a time. Mercy Ships Australia, one of 16 international support offices, is based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. For more information, visit www.mercyships.org.au
For further information, please contact:
Melissa Mason
National Office Manager
Mercy Ships Australia
(07) 5437 2992
[email protected]
High resolution photos are available upon request, with attribution to Mercy Ships.
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