Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has welcomed a delegation from Global Mercy Ship to provide free medical and surgical services to Ghanaians.
According to him, the Global Mercy Ship will, subject to agreement, provide free medical and surgical services in the areas of general surgery, reconstructive plastics surgery, opthalmic surgery women’s health surgery, maxillofacial & ENT surgery and pediatric, orthopedic surgery, among others.
“I welcomed a delegation from Global Mercy Ship led by Michelle Bullington, their Vice President – International Programs to my office… The team is visiting Ghana in preparation for the arrival of the new Global Mercy Ship, a world-class hospital ship that is expected to dock for about 8-10 months in Ghana.”
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
Dr Bawumia revealed that the healthcare provision is expected to reduce the surgical backlog, offer opportunity to some of the most vulnerable people in society who require access to surgical services in remote villages.
Additionally, he stated that the team from Mercy Ship will equally provide support to the country’s ongoing patient care.
“The plastic surgeries will also benefit patients in the leprosarium with post-leprosy contracture who meet the criteria for surgery.”
Dr Mahamudu Bawumia
Benefits of Global Mercy Ship
Furthermore, Dr Bawumia noted that the program will also enhance educational training capacities in some medical and surgical specialties and provide local employment opportunities.
He noted that a 250-bed rehabilitative center will be provided by the programme to house patients who receive surgical and medical services. This center, he emphasized, will be donated to Ghana at the end of the programme.
Emphasizing the relevance of the team to Ghana’s healthcare, the Vice President stated that some 17 million people die globally from lack of surgical care. He further noted that research indicates that more people die from lack of surgical care than malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV combined.
Global Mercy and its sister ship, Africa Mercy, are run by international Christian charity ‘Mercy Ships’, and they sail to African countries where their team of volunteer medics perform life-changing surgeries free of charge.
The new hospital has several advantages. Many of the off-ship facilities, like the dockside medical tents, have been moved on board. This saves weeks of setup and tear-down, allowing more time for surgeries. Built-in cameras equally allow trainees to watch surgeries remotely, exponentially expanding training opportunities.
The hospital has more physical space, with six operating rooms and 199 beds, significantly increasing the number of surgeries that can be performed during a field service.
Earlier this year, the Global Mercy’s arrived in Senegal to partner with its ministry of health. CEO of Mercy Ships, Gert van de Weerdhof, anticipated that over the next five months, more than 800 maxillofacial, pediatric orthopedic, pediatric general, general, and eye surgeries will be carried out on board with up to 25% coming from The Gambia.
Mercy Ships focuses its attention on providing surgery as well as strengthening the healthcare infrastructure in the nations it serves. Through faithful support of friends and partners, children and families suffering from painful, disfiguring, and often-preventable diseases have been able to find the healing they so desperately needed.
Despite its impact, many more children and families are waiting medical interventions. In light of this, the group believes that together with the nations it serves, they have the potential to make a difference in the lives of thousands in the immediate future and for decades to come.
Additionally, it expressed that with the arrival of the new custom-built hospital ship, the Global Mercy, its capacity to provide free surgery and medical training will more than double.
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