The hospital ship the USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) is currently deployed on a four- month humanitarian mission to the western Pacific and Southeast Asia. Mercy is wrapping up a 10-day visit here in Vietnam. Thus far, the team has seen over 8,000 patients at the medical civic action program site, conducting more than 200 surgeries on board.
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The first phase was conducted in the Republic of the Philippines earlier this month, where Mercy teams saw more than 26,000 patients and performed more than 300 surgeries.They will also visit three more countries after Vietnam: Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
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Missions like Mercy Pacific Partnership are cornerstones to the U.S. maritime humanitarian strategy. Building cross-cultural relationships and developing trust are the underpinnings to ensuring security and stability in Asia-Pacific. That's why this mission is so very important.
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Captain Bill Kearns, USN, is Mission Commander for the Mercy Pacific Partnership aboard USNS Mercy gave this report:
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Since Mercy's arrival, medical personnel have treated over 8,000 Vietnamese citizens, 6,000 at medical sites and 2,000 at dental sites throughout the Kai Gwa (ph) province. Mercy conducted over 200 surgeries onboard the ship and these surgeries include 90 Operation Smile cases, which are generally cleft palate and cleft lip repair surgeries, other plastic surgeries that typically included burn, scar therapy and replacement, ophthalmology surgeries and endoscopy procedures.
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Mercy's work in Vietnam is nearly complete and the crew is looking forward to visits in Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea and Federated States of Micronesia in the coming months.
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Resources:
USNS Mercy (T-AH-19)
USNS Mercy Deploys for Pacific Partnership 2008 - from Global Security.org
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