ERADICATING - Mercy Ships › wp-content › uploads › ...the way healthcare is delivered across...

PARTNER WITH US TO TRANSFORM COMMUNITIES

ERADICATING diseases of poverty

Join our mission


02 | Follow us on social media | mercyshipsuk

This number is huge. It is equivalent to the populations of London, Scotland and Wales put together – dying every year because they can't get the operation they need.

Medical care that we take for granted in the UK – having a painful tooth extracted; being able to get a caesarean section; having cataracts repaired – simply isn't an option for five billion people around the world. Either the healthcare they need doesn't exist at all or it is completely inaccessible.

Of those people who can get surgery, a quarter face financial catastrophe as a result – and there's no guarantee that the operation will have solved the problem.

This means that people who need surgery are trapped in a cycle of poverty, unable to access or afford the care that could set them on the path towards a brighter future. Instead, these “diseases of poverty” lead to lifelong disability or death.

There is an urgent need for significant growth in surgical capacity and training in developing countries in order to address this problem.

The need

According to the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, more than 17 million people die every year from conditions requiring surgical care. More people die from these conditions than from HIV, malaria and TB combined.

mercyships.org.uk | 03


Mercy Ships is a faith-based international development organisation that deploys hospital ships to some of the poorest countries in the world, delivering vital, free healthcare to people in desperate need.

The volunteers on our current hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, treat dental and eye problems, cleft lips and palates, tumours, club feet, childbirth injuries, burn contractures and a variety of other conditions.

As well as completing thousands of these urgent operations onboard our “floating hospital”, Mercy Ships volunteers also work closely with host nations to improve the way healthcare is delivered across the country, by training and mentoring local medical staff, building healthcare plans with national governments, and renovating hospitals and clinics.

Founded 40 years ago by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 55 countries, providing services valued at more than £1 billion that have directly helped more than 2.5 million people. By improving healthcare delivery in every country it visits, Mercy Ships is working to eradicate diseases of poverty.

So how do we tackle this enormous, global need?

“I applaud Mercy Ships in their efforts of transformational development as

they make a lasting difference in a world of need. I salute the vision and mission of Mercy Ships and ask that you join me in supporting their noble work and contribute to make this world a better place.”

Nelson Mandela, Former President, South Africa

The solution



Mercy Ships tackles these diseases of poverty through three steps: 1. Offering direct medical care and surgery to local

people;2. Training and mentoring local health professionals;

and3. Improving healthcare infrastructure.

To achieve this, Mercy Ships delivers a customised five-year partnership model with every country it is invited to support. Relationships are built with the national government and ministry of health, so that the needs of each country are met. In this way, Mercy Ships doesn’t just address the immediate need on the ground, but also works to strengthen the country’s healthcare systems and drive policy change. The aim is to tackle the root causes of the problems rather than just the consequences.

In 2017, for example, Mercy Ships was working in five countries. The ship was located in Benin and then Cameroon, and the wider organisation was also involved in Madagascar, Guinea and Senegal. The diagram above shows how the five-year model works.

Effecting change: a five-year partnership

YEAR 2SCREENING ASSESSMENT

An in-depth map of potential surgical cases is developed in the host nation.

An analysis of capacity needs within local healthcare professionals is undertaken.

YEAR 4FOLLOW-UP ANDDEVELOPMENT

Evaluation reports are collated to support future investment plans in healthcare.

Post-ship teams assess and retrain healthcare professionals as needed to ensure fidelity to the programme and provide additional support.

YEAR 5IMPACT ASSESSMENT

A full evaluation report is developed to assess the impact of direct surgical treatment, training local healthcare professionals, and the improvement of infrastructure.

The final report is shared with the Ministry of Health and the wider International Development community.

YEAR 1POLITICAL LIAISON

Engage with host nation through its political structures. Protocol designed taking into account WHO development targets.

Work with the Ministry of Health, local port authorities, and in-country support staff to develop links with NGOs for a collaborative approach.

YEAR 3SHIP IN PORT

Ship arrives in host nation for 10 months. On average, 12,000 surgical and dental procedures will be delivered.

1,500 healthcare professionals will be trained and various Ministry of Health facilities renovated.



The impact

55 DEVELOPING NATIONS VISITED

592 PORT VISITS BY OUR SHIPS

89,000+ LIFE-CHANGING SURGICAL

PROCEDURES PROVIDED

423,000+ DENTAL PROCEDURES PROVIDED

6,000+ HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS

TRAINED TO TRAIN OTHERS

40,800+ PROFESSIONALS TRAINED IN

THEIR FIELD OF EXPERTISE

2.5 MILLION LIVES IMPACTED



The birth of a child should be joyful. But for many women in developing nations, it is the beginning of a downward spiral into pain, loneliness and poverty.

The WHO estimates that 50,000 to 100,000 women sustain obstetric fistulas during childbirth every year – and more than two million women in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia live with the condition. An obstetric fistula is a hole between the vagina and rectum or bladder that is caused by prolonged, obstructed labour. When a woman suffers this injury, not only does she lose her baby, but she is also left incontinent.

The operation to repair obstetric fistula has a success rate of almost 90% – yet this care is not easily available or accessible in the countries that Mercy Ships visits. The women that we treat have often been forced to live with their injury – and their incontinence – for many years. Many of them have been shunned by their communities and left to live in shame.

Mercy Ships doctors, nurses and other caring volunteers provide a holistic approach to treatment. In addition to providing patients with the operation they need, we shower them with love, acceptance and head-to-toe healing.

CASE STUDY Gisele, Obstetric Fistula patientIn 1993, Gisele was 28 years old, married and expecting a baby. Having children was all Gisele had ever wanted.

Since the day she went into labour, Gisele’s life has been shaped by “shoulds”. She should have delivered normally. When she did not, she should have had emergency obstetric care. Perhaps she should have had a C-section. Today, she should be a mother to a 21-year-old son. But 20 years later, Gisele was 48, divorced and childless.

During a prolonged obstructed labour in her Congolese village in 1993, Gisele lost her baby. Owing to the trauma of the delivery, she developed an obstetric fistula. The injury left Gisele incontinent; and for 20 years, Gisele lived with a steady stream of urine trickling down her legs.

Managing her incontinence was difficult and she couldn't escape the smell. Her damp skirt and wet legs reminded her of the child she lost and of the children she would never have. In the night, she had to wake up hourly to change out of her wet clothes. Gisele’s husband, realising she would probably never have children, decided to leave. “With you,” he said, bluntly, “I am wasting my time.”

Since 1993, Gisele says she has not lived a life – but that she has lived somewhere between life and death, waiting for the day her life would end. She withdrew into a life of solitude.

As news spread around the Republic of Congo that Mercy Ships was coming, Gisele began to hope. But it was not until she found herself sitting on a hospital bed in the port of Pointe-Noire waiting for her operation that she allowed herself to believe that she might be healed.

And after a simple operation onboard the Africa Mercy, Gisele was healed. Now, Gisele is all smiles. Gisele is glowing. She can now live her life free from pain, shame and isolation.

Women’s health

Did you know?50,000 to 100,000 women sustain obstetric fistulas during childbirth every year



For many of this 80%, healthcare either doesn’t exist or is completely inaccessible. And without treatment, these children will struggle to escape the cycle of poverty.

To combat this, as part of our orthopaedic programme, Mercy Ships offers a comprehensive training scheme in the Ponseti Method in each country we visit.

Using this method, a patient's foot will be manipulated into position, with their casts being changed every week for five to seven weeks. Then a small tenotomy procedure is required, under local anaesthetic, to cut the Achilles tendon. The patient's foot is then recast while the tendon heals, and braces are worn to maintain the correction.

Mercy Ships combines training in Ponseti with the direct treatment of patients. In Cameroon, more than 20 patients will receive Ponseti treatment, while at least six healthcare professionals are mentored by the Mercy Ships experts.

CASE STUDY Prinscio, Club Foot patientPrinscio was born with bilateral club feet in Madagascar, where there is very limited access to safe, effective surgical treatment. He was two years old when he took his first steps, walking on the tops of his twisted feet. Without surgery, Prinscio would have been unable to go to school, and he would have become stuck in a downward spiral of poverty.

Prinscio’s parents had almost lost hope of seeing their son healed. Then Mercy Ships arrived in Madagascar, and he got the care he needed – for free. Prinscio now stands confidently, flat on the soles of his beautifully restored feet.

Ponseti Dental

Oral health is not just about having good teeth. Poor oral health can lead to oral infections, increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, increase the risk of pneumonia, complicate diabetes, or cause obstetric complications.

In Africa, the dentist to population ratio is around 1 to 150,000 – and significant proportions of children and adults have never seen a dentist. In comparison, the ratio in industrialised nations is 1 dentist for every 2,000 people.

In each country Mercy Ships visits, we set up our dental clinic in a building off-ship provided by the host government or a partner organisation. We hold dental screenings every week, and book in as many patients as we can – on a typical screening day, the team give out up to 250 appointments. In Benin 2016/17, Mercy Ships completed more than 15,000 procedures during the field service, for over 8,500 patients.

In each country we visit, Mercy Ships also provides oral hygiene services and dentures where needed, and teaching in basic oral health education to local communities.

CASE STUDY Ronaldo, Dental patientWhen Mercy Ships met Ronaldo, he could no longer feel pain in his front teeth. Decay had eaten away at the enamel, and had caused a major infection to spread from the damaged nerve. It needed immediate intervention: our dental team performed a root canal to save Ronaldo's front tooth and filled in the other cavities. Antibiotics brought the severe infection under control.

Ronaldo feared entering his adulthood with his front teeth missing. “Now I’m not going to lose my teeth when I’m older!” he said. “Thanks for helping us in need!”

Did you know?An astonishing 150,000-200,000 babies are born with club foot worldwide every year, and 80% of them are born in low and middle-income countries

Did you know?In Africa, the dentist to population ratio is approximately 1 to 150,000



While the Africa Mercy was docked in Benin, the Mercy Ships crew worked alongside – and mentored – the country’s first and only plastic-reconstructive surgeon, Dr Fifonsi Odry Agbessi.

When she was 12 years old, Dr Agbessi saw a woman who had been burned with acid. The woman’s skin had fused together, pinning her chin to her chest. “There was not one plastic surgeon to help her in Benin,” says Dr Agbessi. “I was so touched at her plight that it was at that moment that I chose my profession.”

In West Africa, it’s rare that medical professionals have the opportunity to gain advanced training, practise on newer technology, or collaborate with experts in their field. For that reason, many medical professionals leave to study abroad, and may never return.

During our 2016/17 field service in Benin, Dr Agbessi seized the chance to work alongside Mercy Ships surgeons for more than 90 mentoring hours. By providing training for local surgeons and other healthcare professionals, Mercy Ships works to improve medical and surgical systems in the countries it serves, increasing impact. The goal is to improve the local quality of surgical care so that hope and healing continue long after the ship leaves port.

“I’m finally learning how to really operate on burns,” Dr Agbessi says. “I love coming to the Africa Mercy. I’m learning a lot. I believe that when you are given a gift you are meant to share it. There are many people in my country who still need surgery, whose conditions keep them from really living. Working with Mercy Ships, I now have more to share.”

Meet Dr Agbessi

Transform the lives of women like Gisele – forced to live in shame and isolation because they can’t get the simple operation they need.

Give more children like Prinscio the chance of a hopeful, happy life, by training more doctors in the Ponseti Method.

Bring urgent dental care to people like Ronaldo, who may otherwise never get the chance to see a dentist.

Partner with us today

Call us: 01438 727800 Email us: [email protected] mercyships.org.uk

Support Mercy Ships

Contact us

Registered Charity No: 1053055. Registered Charity in Scotland No. SC039743. Company No: 3147724 (England and Wales)

ERADICATING - Mercy Ships › wp-content › uploads › ...the way healthcare is delivered across...

Documents

Transcript of ERADICATING - Mercy Ships › wp-content › uploads › ...the way healthcare is delivered across...