Mentoring local medicos in Africa

We, the Ladies Who Coffee, debated the best ever tv programme. I chose The Surgery Ship, an Australian series filmed when Mercy Ships visited West Africa in 2016 & 17. Thankyou to the helpful Surgery Ship for their data.

Staff waiting to board a Mercyship

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Each human deserves access to surgical and health care solutions. But in some parts of the world, people go without. Since 1978, Mercy Ships began a mission to provide hope and healing to those in need. Each year hospital ships are filled with volunteers who provide life-changing surgeries to children and adults who’d otherwise go without. The staff confront ethical decisions as they decide who can be helped and who cannot not. This is a complex journey for the volunteer medics as they deal with serious cases, and balance the patients’ fates in their hands.

Globally, 5 billion people lack access to safe surgery. Due to this lack of access to surgical care, up to 18.6 mill people die each year. Every day, children and adults in some of the poorest communities die from causes that can easily be treated in hospitals in many nations. 1 in 8 children die before they have the chance to go to school.

With international volunteers, ship staff can deploy state-of-the-art hospital ships to treat more people. As part of the commitment, the staff also train local health-care workers so this important work can continue. c70% of the world’s population lives near the coast, and the hospital ships provide unique platforms for workers to direct medical care to these villages. A customised 3-year partnership model goes to many African countries requesting support.

Grace, 17, from the Democratic Republic of Congo

before and after tumour was removed

express.co

 

A team of volunteer staff are aboard, going to the poorest nations on earth and facing the most severe issues anywhere. The challenge is enormous but the ship makes a huge difference by supporting the silent poor and by providing life-changing surgeries to those in great need.

The staff provides free corrective surgeries for hernias and goitres that plague unemployed adults, and children who miss school because of no accessible medical care. Doing critical eye surgeries gives patients with renewed sight and quality of life. Huge tumours left to grow unchecked, massive deformities and more; some had a 4 k tumour on the face for years, living a life of ridicule and shame.

anaesthetist prepares pre-operation

New Statesman

Many children live in pain and isolation by not having access to medical care for surgeries eg clef lip, cataracts and plastic reconstructive, and dental health care. Cleft lip surgeries are treated early in life in the West, but for many Africans, it can be years before surgery happens. This results in malnutrition and exclusion from the community. 

A child’s life can be severely impacted with poor eye health, so Mercy Ships provide corrective eye surgery and optical care for kids. Good dental health from an early stage means children are not susceptible to a myriad of other health conditions. Children and their families learn the basics of dental health and are provided with vital surgeries. Good dental hygiene prevents gum disease, cavities and teaches basic oral health education. 80% of the world’s fractures and the majority of club-feet occur in developing nations. Without quality orthopaedic surgeries, those who have these types of defects experience a life of pain and shame.

Infection control is a major issue in hospitals in both wealthy and developing nations. Mercy Ships teaches local medical staff to put safe-surgery protocols into practice but often the local environment makes it very difficult to keep even operating theatres clean and sterile. That’s where Mercy Ships projects like hospital refurbishment emerge, changing facilities that are uncleanable into areas where local staff can clean and sterilise, reducing secondary infections.

When the ship departs a country, the staff want to leave an improved healthcare system for the community. Before, during and after field services, Mercy Ships implements health care training projects that teach the medical knowledge, skills and attitude needed to heal patients long after. Infrastructure projects include renovating or expanding hospitals, helping these facilities become more available and to improve the quality of medical services. Previously, local staff struggled to care for their patients in very poor working conditions.

Dr Glenn Strauss performed the very first surgery aboard the Africa Mercy,

while mentoring local doctors

mercyships.co.za

 
The ship’s Medical Capacity Building Projects strengthen the standards of surgical care inside the local communities of the countries served. The legacy is a lasting impact that extends for years.

A child’s life can be dark because of a simple cataract. For most people in the West, a quick trip to the ophthalmologist resolves this issue, but for those who have no access to quality health care, their world dims. For 40 years, Mercy Ships has been dedicated to providing healing to those in need, via the dedicated ship volunteers.

Now to honour Dr Glenn Strauss who joined Mercy Ships in 1997 as an ophthalmologist with the Caribbean Mercy. He and his wife Kim continued to volunteer their skills for short-term missions, helping many to get care for the first time. Eventually the couple closed their practice at home and committed themselves to work fulltime on Mercy Ships from 2005. The couple developed Mercy Vision, a training programme for surgeons and paramedics from sub-Saharan Africa. Later he built a training programme in ophthalmology for regular surgeons.

Mercy Ships continues to provide essential surgery for the world’s most vulnerable people. And they also work to strengthen and support African health care systems via education, training, mentoring, equipment and supplies. Over 30 years, the staff trained 43,300+ local doctors and nurses who then trained others. The long-term impact of this medical training provides quality health care in the countries, long after the ship sails.

What is your favourite tv programme?