Mercy Ships is an organization that owns and operates the world’s largest civilian hospital ship and they travel to countries where people don’t have access to safe medical care with their two fully equipped modern hospital ships. The mission is to change the terrible death statistics through care and education and bring hope and healing to the most vulnerable.
How does Mercy Ships help?
Mercy Ships strategy for improving healthcare in the countries they work with is based on two principles:
- Medical care and surgery for local people: reduce queues and immediate patient pressure by providing surgical care on board the hospital ship.
- Medical capacity building: improve the host country’s healthcare system through education, mentorship and improvement of local infrastructure.
Why use ships as hospitals?
50% of the world’s population lives near a port city, stationed on the coast Mercy Ships can effectively reach large parts of the country’s population.
Greencarrier and Mercy Ships – Collaboration for a better future
The partnership between Greencarrier and Mercy Ships means that Greencarrier pledges to donate at least 10 000 USD to Mercy Ships in conjunction with their yearly Cargo Day, where actors within the shipping industry come together to raise money to Mercy Ships operations. The money goes directly into funding the operation of their hospital ships.
– “Being sustainable in business means that we in Greencarrier care for our company, the people in it and for our customers and partners. But it also means that we take on a larger responsibility, for the society in general and the future health of our planet. Our partnership with Mercy Ships is a way for us to contribute to our sustainability goals. With our core as a global shipping company we are happy to see how ships can be used to help people where people don’t have access to safe medical care.” Says Stefan Björk, founder and owner of Greencarrier.
– Our mission is to bring hope and healing to people in Africa without access to medical care, and we are really happy to see Greencarrier also sharing our vision about a sustainable future for all.” Says Stefan Sonesson, National Director of Mercy Ships Sweden.
Our view on sustainability
Each year Greencarrier set aside 1% of our profit to the Greencarrier Spirit Fund, funding local and global initiatives to make improvements for the environment and the society. Our collaboration with Mercy Ships is part of this initiative.
Read more about our ambitions and initiatives within sustainability in our Sustainability Report and on our blog.
About Mercy Ships:
Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliver free, world-class healthcare services, capacity building, and sustainable development to those with little access in the developing world. Founded in 1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 55 developing countries, providing services valued at more than $1.7 billion and directly benefitting more than 2.8 million people. Our ships are crewed by volunteers from over 60 nations, with an average of over 1200 volunteers each year. Professionals including surgeons, dentists, nurses, healthcare trainers, teachers, cooks, seamen, engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills. With 16 national offices and an Africa Bureau, Mercy Ships seeks to transform individuals and serve nations one at a time.
For more information click on www.mercyships.org
All photos: Mercy Ships
