Globally, five billion children and adults do not have access to timely medical care. Of this, 93% live in Africa south of the Sahara. According to the general secretary of Mercy Ships Denmark, Vibeke Hauge Førrisdahl, the large number is appalling and the consequences for the many people are enormous.

"Quite concretely, for example, children with cleft lip and palate risk a life of ostracism from their local community, and the condition can make it difficult - if not impossible - to take in enough essential nutrients," says Vibeke Hauge Førrisdahl.

It is therefore no coincidence that on Valentine's Day, 14 February, Mercy Ships' state-of-the-art and newly built hospital ship, GLOBAL MERCY, dropped anchor in Dakar, Senegal. While the ship was in Senegal in 2022 to offer training to more than 260 local health professionals, this year marks the first time that specialized operations will be carried out on board. In other words, the ship will be able to give its first ever patients life-changing treatments - and for the first time in Mercy Ships' history, one of the organisation's ships will also help two nations from one port.

One port, two nations

"It is fantastic that GLOBAL MERCY, on the initiative of Senegalese President Macky Sall, can help people from both Senegal and Gambia from the port of Dakar. It's a wonderful start for our new ship, which very fittingly arrived in Dakar as a declaration of love on Valentine's Day," says Vibeke Hauge Førrisdahl and continues: "From the ship, people will receive free operations, which will give them completely new chances in life, and we will simultaneously train health personnel so that together with our colleagues in Senegal and Gambia we can contribute to the sustainable development of local health systems.”

GLOBAL MERCY, the world's largest civilian hospital ship, is specially designed to be both a hospital and a training center - with six operating theaters and advanced training facilities, for example a simulation laboratory with virtual reality, training mannequins and other modern training tools.

Danish volunteer looks forward to life transformation

Just like on the sister ship AFRICA MERCY, life on GLOBAL MERCY is like a global village - with people from over 60 different nations on board. More Danes are also expected to go out on the new, state-of-the-art ship this year. One of them is Frida Roos, who works daily in the emergency department in Aarhus as a nurse. Frida will leave for two months on GLOBAL MERCY from 26 February, and on board she will work as a nurse with functions in the bed ward:

"I am super excited and expectant. I have long dreamed of going and working abroad. What I am most looking forward to is being challenged, both professionally and personally. Culturally, too, I expect to be challenged - by the African culture as well as by the hospital culture itself," says Frida.

"In addition, it is a gift to be able to go out into the world on a huge adventure and at the same time be able to help other people. It will be really big," she concludes.  

GLOBAL MERCY, fact box:

- In addition to being the world's largest civilian hospital ship, GLOBAL MERCY is the first ship in the world to be built as a civilian hospital from the start. In addition, the ship is unique in its shape, as in addition to functioning as a hospital ship, she functions as a teaching ship with a large auditorium and operating theaters created for the purpose.

- Up to 641 volunteers work on board at a time - some work for a few weeks, others for several years on board the ship.

- GLOBAL MERCY is 174 meters in length, 28.6 meters in width and the ship's gross tonnage is 37,000. The ship has six operating theatres, 200 beds, a laboratory, general outpatient clinics and eye and dental clinics. The total area of the hospital ward is 7,000 m2. Mercy Ships' fleet consisting of AFRICA MERCY and GLOBAL MERCY has a combined crew from more than 60 nations around the world.

- It is expected that 150,000 lives will be transformed through surgery over the next 50 years of GLOBAL MERCY’s lifetime. In addition, thousands of African health professionals will receive training and education on board. Over the next five months in Dakar, it is expected that more than 800 operations will be performed on board and that 25% of patients will come from Gambia. By 2023, Mercy Ships expects to offer training to more than 600 health professionals.