A new partnership between Christian medical charities Mercy Ships and CURE International will see at least 250 surgeries carried out to help children with disabilities in Africa during the first half of this year, according to the organisations.
The partnership, which was announced earlier this month, aims to improve access of children living with disabilities to specialised surgery in nations where they can often wait years for treatment due to limited resources or a lack of specialised doctors.
Sarah Kwok, a volunteer anaesthesiologist with Mercy Ships, who is currently undertaking a six week placement at the CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda in Mbale in the country’s east. PICTURE: Supplied.
Dr Peter Linz, chief medical officer with Mercy Ships International, said the partnership would result in at least 250 to 350 surgeries in the first six months of this year.
“As the most vulnerable group of patients, children face great healthcare inequities globally,” Linz told Sight via email. “And children with disabilities, face even more inequity. In most of the world’s poorest countries, children comprise more than half of the population and 85 per cent are expected to require a surgical intervention by age 15. According to UNICEF, by 2050, Africa will be home to two in five children. Without addressing children’s surgery as a final intervention in child health, Africa will not meet its economic goals, nor will it meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Both Mercy Ships and CURE International are working to help balance those odds.”
Mercy Ships has already sent medical personnel to CURE’s hospitals in Uganda and Niger and plans to send personnel to Zambia in May. In Uganda, children are primarily being treated with neurosurgery for conditions such as encephalocele and hydrocephalus while in Niger the surgery being performed is reconstructive plastic surgery, which includes burn contracture release and correction of congenial deformities.
Linz said he expects new syngergies to develop between the organisations over time which may present opportunities to further increase the impact of the partnership.
“The value of this partnership is not just the patients being cared for but the opportunities for our staffs to share best practice and learn from each other,” he said.
Sarah Kwok, a volunteer anaesthesiologist with Mercy Ships, is currently undertaking a six week placement at the CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda in Mbale in the country’s east. Speaking to Sight, also via email, she said was grateful for the collaboration between the two organisations.
“CURE’s core mission is to heal the sick and proclaim the kingdom of God which integrates very well with Mercy Ships following the 2000 year example of Jesus in bringing hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor,” she said. “The two organisations are centred on loving God and each other as well as being people of excellence and providing high quality care to all our patients.”
Kwok, who formerly worked as a consultant anaesthestist with the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust in southern England, first volunteered with Mercy Ships in October, 2018, and has since carried out a range of roles including acting chief medical officer, hairdresser and part-time barista. She is now a full-time volunteer anaesthesia supervisor onboard the Mercy Ship’s vessel, Africa Mercy.
Kwok said she had loved her time at the CURE hospital in Uganda.
“I have loved coming into work every day because the nurses and doctors are so warm and exhibit genuine love for their patients and each other,” she said. “They have a joy that is very visible and I believe it’s because they wholeheartedly believe in the work they do here…It has been a real privilege to serve with CURE…”
Kwok, who has been vaccinated against COVID-19, added that CURE Uganda’s ability to keep operating during the coronavirus pandemic has been a “real blessing to the local population”.
“It is a specialist pediatric neurosurgical hospital where they pioneer a minimally invasive procedure called endoscopic third ventriculostomy for the treatment of hydrocephalus. They are transforming lives and giving their patients a future filled with hope and expectations of a normal life.”
Meanwhile, Peter Linz said that while Mercy Ships’ flagship Africa Mercy had to leave its last placement in Senegal two months early because of the coronavirus pandemic and is now undergoing maintenance in Tenerife, the organisation had been able to continue its work in Africa through a number of initiatives including educating and mentoring students at a dental hospital in Gamal, Guinea, running online health and wellbeing learning sessions for caregivers in West Africa and supplying personal protective equipment to health workers in 11 countries in Africa.
Correction: The spelling of Sarah Kwok’s name has been corrected. Apologies for the typo.
