The Peace Ark, a Chinese hospital ship, has seen over a thousand patients since it docked at the V&A waterfront in Cape Town on Thursday to offer free medical care to Capetonians. The hospital ship is said to be equipped with state-of-the-art medical facilities and an onboard medical rescue helicopter. 

COLLABORATION FOR A CAUSE

The South African Military Health Service's Lesiba Ledwaba explained that this initiative is part of a joint medical mission between the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the Chinese People's Liberation Army and is the first of its kind in South Africa. "In the past three days we've seen a multitude of patients; we've seen over one thousand patients with more than one thousand five hundred departmental consultations. So, it's an integrated system consisting of various departments in one hospital ship," Ledwaba said. Patients have been enjoying free medical services since last week Thursday, including surgical procedures, in-patient treatment and lab procedures. Peace Ark has more than 1,000 staff members, including the ship's crew and military medical personnel. She has 300 beds, 20 intensive care beds, eight operating theatres, 17 clinical departments, and five auxiliary diagnostic departments. An onboard medical rescue helicopter is used to airlift patients.

AN EXCHANGE OF SKILLS

Defence Minister Angie Motshekga said the exercise provides an opportunity for both countries' military health services to share their unique military health support expertise, enhancing inter-operability between themselves. "This will have a positive impact on future humanitarian medical relief exercises. The exercise will also improve medical skills transfers between the two militaries and provide opportunities for sharing experiential knowledge in joint medical consultation, medical technologies, skills and other related activities in the medical field. Furthermore, it will enhance the diplomatic relations between South Africa and the People's Republic of China, "she said. The Peace is on South African shores just until Wednesday, then it's heading to Angola.