From August 2018 to June 2019
During the 10-month stay, Mercy Ships provided 2’442 life-changing surgeries onboard our hospital ship, treated more than 7’937 patients at a land-based dental clinic, and provided training and mentoring to 1’254 local healthcare professionals.
Guinea’s economy is largely dependent on agriculture and mineral production. 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.
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.
See an overview in the video below.
The Africa Mercy sails into Conakry, Guinea.
The Guinea flag, among others, is waved by crew members upon arrival into the Port of Conakry.
The Africa Mercy's gangway is lowered upon arrival.
The First Lady of Guinea, MmeDjene Kaba Condé, cutting the ribbon with the Minister of Health and Warrie Blackburn, Managing Director of the The Africa Mercy, during the Arrival Ceremony.
Patient selection in Conakry began early in the morning. Hundreds of potential patients came to the Palais du Peuple for a free consultation. For all those we will be able to treat, this is a great day of hope and joy!
This is the breakdown for Guinea:
102 Orthopaedic surgeries
486 Maxillofacial surgeries
148 Reconstructive surgeries
509 General surgeries
1,136 Ophthalmic surgeries
61 Women’s health surgeries
Mercy Ships also provided more than 18,000 dental procedures in Guinea.
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 provided training to local healthcare professionals in essential surgical skills, obstetric anaesthesia, paediatric anaesthesia, primary trauma care, essential pain management, biomedical equipment care, neonatal resuscitation, the Ponseti method for correcting clubfoot, and implementation of the WHO Surgical Safety Checklist to reduce post-operative mortality rates.
We also mentored maxillofacial teams, surgeons, surgical nurses, anaesthesia providers and sterile processing staff. Mercy Ships also ran a nutritional agriculture training course.
