Mercy Ships Signs Health Compact with Government of Sierra Leone

Freetown, Sierra Leone, 22 December, 2011 – This week Mercy Ships, along with health development partners such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the Department for International Development (DFID) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and others – signed a Health Compact with the Sierra Leonean government. The compact is an agreement between the signees and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation. It describes how major partners will work together for the development of health care delivery in Sierra Leone. Mercy Ships will continue to contribute to improvements in health care delivery systems in Sierra Leone – even after the Africa Mercy has departed the West African nation.

“Mercy Ships has a multi-phased engagement with each country that we serve,” says Mark Thompson, VP of International Programs for Mercy Ships. “Therefore, our involvement with a country does not end when the ship leaves. Through signing the Health Compact, we are making a commitment to continue working alongside the Ministry of Health and Sanitation and other health development partners to improve principal hospitals in Sierra Leone.”

Plans have been established for how Mercy Ships will work alongside WHO, UNICEF and other NGOs, so that efforts are not duplicated and to take advantage of synergies. The work is aligned with strategic and tactical plans formulated by the Sierra Leonean Ministry of Health and Sanitation.

This is the first time Mercy Ships has signed a health compact with any government. The Mercy Ships programmatic focus on principal hospital improvement is so welcomed that they were asked to sign the compact as a full partner – equal to other international health development organizations – rather than as an NGO.

“Not many NGOs are given the status of a full partner,” says Thompson. “Most NGOs are represented in the compact by two global NGOs. But we’ve been given the privilege and responsibility to sign as a full partner, representing ourselves. This is a good opportunity that will allow us to establish ourselves as a well-respected collaborator with large health development partners.”

After signing the compact, the ongoing primary focus of Mercy Ships in Sierra Leone is to improve the performance of the key hospitals. Mercy Ships Programs Teams have already surveyed the hospitals to establish base line metrics of service offered and present conditions. They looked closely at the medical and surgical services being offered, the physical condition of the buildings and infrastructure, and systems such as patient records. Using the survey results, consultants and partnerships with partner agencies, Mercy Ships Programs Teams develops plans and suggestions for improvements, working with other partners to implement projects.

The Mercy Ships hospital ship, the Africa Mercy, served the nation of Sierra Leone for 10 months in 2011. During that time they performed over 33,000 medical procedures and 3,000 life-changing surgeries onboard the ship, impacting thousands of lives.

Improving health care delivery is a major focus of Mercy Ships, and the signing of the Health Compact will ensure that improvements of key hospitals in Sierra Leone will continue in the future.

To learn more about Mercy Ships, go to www.mercyships.org.


ABOUT MERCY SHIPS: Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free, world-class health care services, capacity building and sustainable development to those without access in the developing world. Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countries providing services valued at more than $834 million, impacting more than 2.9 million direct beneficiaries. Each year Mercy Ships has more than 1,200 volunteers from over 40 nations. Professionals including surgeons, dentists, nurses, health care trainers, teachers, cooks, seamen, engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills to the effort. Mercy Ships seeks to become the face of love in action, bringing hope and healing to the poor. For more information click on www.mercyships.org

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