Celebrating Guinea

From August 2018 to June 2019, our hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, anchored in the port of Conakry,
the capital of Guinea, with a population of nearly 2 million.

Capital
Conakry
Surface
245 857 km²
Poverty
35% live below the poverty line of $2 per day
Human Development Index
Rank 174 from 189
Inabitants
12,4 million
Doctors per 100 000 inhabitants
9,7
Languages
Official language French, multitude of other local tribal languages

Guinea is a predominantly Islamic country, with Muslims representing 85% of the population. Guinea’s people belong to twenty-four ethnic groups. French, the official language of Guinea, is the main language of communication in schools, in government administration, and the media, but more than twenty-four indigenous languages are also spoken.

Guinea’s economy is largely dependent on agriculture and mineral production.

The Guinea flag was officially adopted on November 10, 1958. Red symbolizes the struggle for independence, yellow represents the sun and the riches of the land, while green is symbolic of the country’s vegetation.

The Africa Mercy will provide life-changing surgeries for over 2,000 adult and child patients, treat over 8,000 at a land-based dental clinic and provide holistic healthcare training to hundreds of Guinean healthcare professionals from August 2018 to May 2019 in the 10 regions of Guinea.

This is the breakdown of the surgeries Mercy Ships plans to offer in Guinea:

73+ ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERIES
388+ MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERIES
134+ RECONSTRUCTIVE PLASTIC SURGERIES
380+ GENERAL SURGERIES
914+ OPHTHALMIC SURGERIES
59+ WOMEN’S HEALTH SURGERIES

Mercy Ships doesn’t just deliver medical services. We believe in driving sustainable change in every country we are invited to visit.

In Guinea, we will provide training to local healthcare professionals in essential surgical skills, obstetric anaesthesia, paediatric anaesthesia, primary trauma care, essential pain management, biomedical equipment care, neonatal resuscitation, ponseti method and the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist.

We will also mentor maxillofacial teams, surgeons, surgical nurses, anaesthesia providers and sterile processing staff. Mercy Ships will also run a nutritional agriculture training course.