Mozambican and Chinese military doctors are exchanging experiences on the Chinese Navy's hospital ship "Arca da Paz", docked in the Port of Maputo, with the capacity to treat 700 people per day, a Mozambican military source said today.
"We, the armed forces, the civil health team and the Chinese navy team will be on the ship. As doctors, the fact that they are interacting with other colleagues from another region (...) is a moment that we believe is an opportunity to exchange experiences and learn from each other", said Sidónia Massangaie, director of the health department at the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Defence of Mozambique (FADM).
The Chinese ship "Arca da Paz" will be docked in the Port of Maputo until the 15th of this month to provide support and medical and drug assistance to Mozambican military personnel, their dependents and the general population, the latter upon "registration in a tent set up for this purpose at the Command of the Navy of Mozambique".
This is the second time that China's "Peace Ark" has docked in Mozambique, as part of the cooperation relations between the two countries, after having been in the African country in 2017, when at least 16,000 patients were treated.
"It is a unique unit with all medical specialties (...) what defines its strengths is the service capacity that this ship offers. We believe that it brings added value through the exchange of experiences and procedures. We will have the opportunity to see how others do it", added Sidónia Massangaie.
The hospital ship left China on June 16, with visits scheduled to 13 countries, namely Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Madagascar, South Africa, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Cameroon, Benin, Mauritania, Djibouti and Sri Lanka.
"Before Mozambique, the ship was in Madagascar and then it will head to South Africa", said a Chinese source.
The Chinese Navy's hospital ship is a Chinese-built maritime emergency medical support platform equipped with operating rooms, medical offices, nursing stations and hundreds of beds, as well as an ambulance helicopter. The ship has provided free medical and humanitarian services to more than 290,000 people in 45 countries and regions in Africa, the Americas and Oceania between 2010 and 2023 in a series of medical service missions called "Harmonious Mission".
