World Cargo Day, held on the first Thursday in November each year, is a day in which charterers offer cargo to brokers who are willing to donate 50% of their commission to the health and surgery charity, Mercy Ships. Other parties can also make donations.
Last year, more than $2.2m was raised for the charity Mercy Ships, which provides access to health care in sub-Saharan Africa.
On 16 May 2019, a 7-month old baby by the name of Aissata in Guinea underwent surgery to correct a cleft lip and a cleft palate; she was the 100,000th recipient of free surgical treatment aboard the organization’s hospital ships.
Last year, the charity performed 3,2965 surgeries, of which 1,437 took place in Senegal and Sierra Leone, and benefited 2,953 patients. Additionally, the organization provided nutritional agriculture training to 93 farmers and trained 56 aspiring dentists.
Mercy Ships is ramping up efforts in 2024 to bridge gaps in surgical, obstetric, and anesthesia care while prioritizing the training of local healthcare providers.
In February this year, among the many activities of the charity, Mercy Ships has visited the port of Toamasina, Madagascar. It is planned that the surgeons aboard the ship will carry out more than 1,150 free specialised surgeries.
Most of the world’s population – around 5 billion people – lack access to essential surgical care. Mercy Ships is a global humanitarian aid organization that is dedicated to increasing access to healthcare in developing nations. Originally founded in 1978, the charity deploys the world’s two largest civilian hospital ships, the Africa Mercy and the Global Mercy. Hospital ships are particularly well-suited to providing care as they are obviously mobile and around 50% of the world’s population lives within 100 miles of the coast.
Find out more about the Mercy Ships World Cargo Day!
Find out more about Mercy Ships!
