Medical Work Begins
Mercy Ships has begun performing free operations and critical health care training to medical professionals in Benin.
At the Hospital of the Mother and Child in Cotonou, Mercy Ships doctors. Uroz Tristan and Keith Thomson performed two successful oesophageal atresia repairs, which correct malformations or small holes in the oesophagus. This complex procedure had never before been performed in Benin.
During the first operation, Dr Tristan operated while Dr Thomson anesthetised as a local surgeon and a local anaesthetist observed to learn the technique.
During the second procedure, the Mercy Ships team advised as the local doctors performed the surgeries.
The Mercy Ships team also attended the children who were operated on until they were stable, and trained the local medical staff in how to care for patients after this type of operation.
“Every day, sometimes three or four times a day, Mercy Ships staff was checking on the patients, but now the children are fine and Benin’s medical sector is better equipped to care for the people of Benin,” Dr Tristan said. .
Onboard the Africa Mercy, the six operating rooms are full of patients. Surgeons are performing general surgeries for hernias and goiters, orthopaedic corrections, and maxillo-facial surgeries, as well as procedures for obstetric fistulas and cataracts.
In addition, the dental and eye clinics are up and running all over the city of Cotonou, with hundreds of people showing up each day for treatment.
The Mercy Ships Dental Team works five days a week performing teeth cleaning and extraction, fillings, and replacements, while also providing dental education. The dental team sees 60 people a day and distributes toothbrushes and toothpaste to patients.
Eleven day volunteers help with translating, and mechanical work, and three are local dental assistants being trained by the Mercy Ships team.
The dental team has a goal of treating 11,500 individuals and providing basic oral health education to almost 14,000 people during the 10-month field service.