Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Tony Goodman, has indicated that the Global Mercy Hospital Ship has returned to Ghana after nearly 20 years to assist in clearing the country’s backlog of surgical cases.
The vessel arrived at the Tema Port on Monday 17 August 2026, to provide free surgical and dental treatments to Ghanaians.
Speaking on The Public Sphere on Radio Univers, Mr. Goodman explained that the hospital ship came to Ghana following a request by the government to support the country’s healthcare system.
“The government made a request to the Global Mercy ship to come and assist with some specialized surgeries,” he noted.
He revealed that the country has a significant number of patients awaiting surgical procedures and that the ship’s presence would help reduce the backlog.
“We have a lot of surgical cases here; a lot of them have been prepared or have been planned to undergo surgical operation. Based on what we think, if we have this coming on board, we’ll be able to clear the backlog for our people,” he said.
Mr. Goodman added that the first batch of patients to benefit from the initiative was selected several months ago through various regional hospitals across the country.
“The first batch of patients have been selected. About 3,000 have been identified and undergone various treatments.”
He further indicated that the initiative is expected to provide thousands of surgical and dental treatments during the ship’s stay in Ghana.
“We are hopeful that by the time they finish these surgical operations, free surgeries should have been conducted for about 2,600 Ghanaians. We are also looking at about 2,000 dental cases and considering having the ship in Ghana for 10 months,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health is considering expanding the number of beneficiaries following the increased public interest generated by the hospital ship’s arrival.
“We have also requested that, with the kind of publicity their coming has generated, we’ll want them to add some additional patients who have come to know about this operation to be assisted. That is one of the things we’re considering with them,” he revealed.
He also highlighted the knowledge-transfer opportunities that would result from the collaboration between the Global Mercy medical team and Ghanaian health professionals.
“We have about 600 officers in terms of allied health and an additional number of medical officers coming into the country who are also assisting. In Ghana, we’re going to have transfer of knowledge to about 1000 persons who would directly work with them,” he stated.
The Global Mercy Hospital Ship is expected to remain in Ghana for about 10 months —running until June 2027— providing specialised medical services while supporting capacity building among Ghanaian healthcare professionals.
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Story by Emmanuella Ntowbea Marbell|univers.ug.edu.gh
Edited by Erica Odeenyin Odoom
