Strategic Partnership Mercy Ships is a Rotary Foundation Strategic Partner and receives a packaged grant for disease prevention and treatment. The goals of the Strategic Partnership: To build local capacity through training opportunities for health care professionals. To provide surgical and other medical interventions to those in need. The Strategic partnership consists of Vocational Training Teams (VTTs) to support the professional development of doctors, surgeons and health care workers. Using a needs assessment done by Mercy Ships, the VTTs work with Mercy Ships to provide services and training. Training can be conducted on or off the ship in local hospitals or educational institutions. These teams help deliver free world class health care and capacity building to those without access in lesser developed countries.

Rotary International Partnership With Mercy Ships The ophthalmic suite and lounge onboard the Africa Mercy Medical and pharmaceutical supplies and fuel for the generator. Funding of surgeries including maxillofacial and ophthalmic. Surgical capacity training of surgeons and other health care workers in Ghana, Benin, Togo, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. Since 1987 Rotary International district clubs have supported Mercy Ships and have provided much needed funding for:

Vocational Training Teams – Republic of the Congo We are training nurses, doctors, and allied health workers in basic infection control, hand washing, surgical site infection control, bio-medical waste management and vector control. Rotary has funded 3 Vocational Training Teams serving with Mercy Ships in Training 31 participants at Adolfe Sice Hospital (600 beds) in Pointe Noire. 2.Training 35 participants at Tie Tie Hospital (118 beds) in Pointe Noire. 3.Training 4 ophthalmic surgeons and four eye nurses in Brazzaville at CHU (Centre Hospital University) in April The surgical training topics include: Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery, phaco-emulsification, strabismus, and pterygium. Additionally, the training will include topics such as: WHO safe surgery checklist, prevention of endophthalmitis, lectures in MSICS and phaco.

Vocational Training Teams - Guinea 1. Training five senior surgeons and four first year ophthalmic physician interns from Guinea. Training in cataract surgery and related eye health topics was conducted at DESSO (University of Conakry – School of Ophthalmology) and Bartimé clinic in Conakry. 2. Training 60 health care professionals in Ignace Deen and Donka Hospitals in Conakry, Guinea about disease control and reducing hospital infection In 2015, we anticipate that there will 3 Vocational Training Teams in Guinea For more information see: fight-disease-guinea Rotary funded 2 Vocational Training Teams serving with Mercy Ships in 2013