In 2024, Mercy Ships delivered life-changing healthcare and training across sub-Saharan Africa, marking significant milestones in its mission to provide free surgical care and build capacity in local healthcare systems. Through its two hospital ships, the Global Mercy™ and the Africa Mercy®, the organization impacted thousands of lives by combining direct medical services with education, training, and advocacy programs by partnering with governments for lasting impact.

Mercy Ships’ Education, Training, and Advocacy (ETA) department is supporting a new program aimed at reducing surgical infection rates at Connaught Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone. As a component of its Safer Surgery program, 20 nurses are attending a two-week, hands-on training about sterilization processes. Mercy Ships has partnered with the Sterile Processing Education Charitable Trust (SPECT) to administer the training. SPECT is a nonprofit organization founded in 2013 to address a critical gap in healthcare: the lack of effective sterile processing education and training in resource-constrained settings.

Last month, 40 African Health Ministers signed important agreements at the Pan-African Surgical Healthcare Forum (PASHeF) in Rwanda. These agreements are a big step towards making surgical care accessible to more people across Africa. In the near future, the goal is to have these formally adopted by the African Union (UA). This journey is one that Mercy Ships, the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE), the Rwanda Ministry of Health, and Smile Train walked together – to support and host this recent PASHeF meeting. Dr. Walt Johnson shares his thoughts on why these efforts are so important and why collaboration is vital for saving lives.