A ‘One-of-a-Kind’ Hospital Ship

The deployment of the USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort in recent months to American cities overwhelmed by COVID-19 has made people increasingly aware of the important role hospital ships can play in providing critical medical care in times of crisis. What remains much less known is the ongoing global surgery crisis that sees five billion people without access to safe, timely, and affordable surgery – a crisis not on pause during the pandemic.

The poorest of this group – often referred to as the ‘bottom billion’ – live in African nations who now find themselves battling a highly contagious respiratory virus on top of numerous pre-existing healthcare challenges – and all this within notably fragile systems.

Mercy Ships has served such nations in sub-Saharan Africa for 30 years by bringing state-of-the-art hospital ships run by skilled volunteers to provide direct surgical services to those in desperate need, and strengthen healthcare systems through medical capacity building programs.

Like the USNS Mercy and USNS Comfort, the Africa Mercy is a repurposed hospital ship, yet what makes it unique amongst all others is its five world-class operating theatres where thousands of patients receive free life-changing surgeries each year, including: maxillofacial surgery to remove tumors and repair cleft lips and palates, ophthalmic surgery to remove cataracts, orthopaedic surgery to straighten legs and correct club feet, plastic reconstructive surgery to repair severe burn contractures, and more.

The former Danish rail ferry also doubles as a mobile training facility for each nation it visits – training hundreds of local healthcare professionals each field service, and mentoring surgeons to offer the above-mentioned speciality surgeries in their own host country.