The renewal of a partnership settlement between two main faith-based medical charities will deliver life-changing surgical care to remoted communities throughout Africa, extending its attain additional inland and throughout a wider spectrum of the continent's inhabitants.
The Memorandum of Settlement between Mercy Ships and the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), launched in Madagascar, renews a earlier partnership that ran from 2014 to 2016, with the 2 organizations additionally working collectively in Liberia.
Mercy Ships operates state-of-the-art hospital ships that supply free surgical procedures and medical companies to sub-Saharan international locations which have restricted entry to protected surgical care. The logistical help offered by the Mission Aviation Fellowship will enable Mercy Ships groups to entry hard-to-reach elements of Madagascar and transport sufferers in want of vital surgical procedures.
“Touring in Madagascar will be extremely difficult because of the uneven terrain and poor infrastructure,” stated Michael Jurgensen, director of MAF Madagascar. “In lots of instances, it may possibly take days to journey by automobile to distant villages, which takes up precious time and power.
“Nonetheless, with the help of MAF Madagascar [Mercy Ships] The affected person choice group can cowl huge distances shortly and safely, permitting them to go to a number of areas in a brief time period.
“Flying not solely saves time for the choice group, but additionally ensures that the group can journey to guage and choose sufferers from probably the most remoted areas for surgical procedure on the ship later.”
In keeping with the World Well being Group (WHO), Madagascar has just one surgeon per 100,000 individuals, making mandatory surgical remedy out of attain for many individuals. In keeping with a 2016 BMJ World Well being research, solely a fifth of the inhabitants can entry surgical companies inside a two-hour window, whereas 95% can be financially ruined in the event that they required surgical procedure.
“By transporting Mercy Ships groups with our plane into the inside of Madagascar, we’re offering support, hope and therapeutic to residents with the surgical care they desperately want,” stated Bastiaan de Waal, MAF's regional director for Africa.
“The necessity is excessive in these areas and these individuals in remoted communities are equally entitled to care. We’re delighted to work with Mercy Ships to help this usually forgotten group.”
Mercy Ships' hospital ship, Africa Mercy, has been docked in Toamasina, the capital of the Atsinanana area on Madagascar's east coast, since February. Its groups actively work with the Madagascar Ministry of Well being to determine probably the most pressing wants and supply surgical interventions and coaching.
Bernard van den Bosch, who has labored for each MAF and Mercy Ships and is presently Director of the African Providers Middle at Mercy Ships, is happy concerning the partnership and additional joint initiatives are being explored in different African international locations.
“We’re positively re-establishing contact with MAF as a result of collectively we’re stronger. The nation of Madagascar has many hard-to-reach areas and MAF is the important thing to entry them,” he stated.
“Nonprofits could 'compete,' however in the end all of us serve the identical aim. I see many alternatives for future collaboration and intense joint efforts.”
