British Medics involved in Togo Screening

A British surgeon from Hertfordshire is one of a number of British medics heading to Togo next week to join a volunteer medical team screening thousands of potential patients in the West African country.

Consultant maxillo-facial surgeon Peter McDermott is volunteering with the international charity Mercy Ships to help provide free health care and training to local health care workers.

The ship arrived in Togo earlier this month and Peter will be part of the team performing the first surgeries on board the ship following the main screening day next week.  He is one of more than 50 British medics volunteering for Mercy Ships in Togo this year. 

It is common for thousands of people to queue looking for treatment on the main screening days and so Mercy Ships also conducts smaller, advance screenings across the country ahead of the ship’s arrival.

At least 100 people volunteer from the United Kingdom each year performing jobs ranging from surgeons and nurses to cooks and engineers.

This year, the volunteer medics on the Africa Mercy will perform free surgeries for new patients, as well as follow-up with patients operated on by Mercy Ships during its previous visit in 2010.

During the five month field service, Mercy Ships hopes to provide more than 1,250 free surgeries, 11,000 dental procedures and the training of 900 local representatives.