President John Dramani Mahama on Thursday officially welcomed the Global Mercy Hospital Ships back to Ghana at the Tema Port, to provide free life-changing surgeries and medical care to Ghanaians.

The Global Mercy Hospital Ships, arrived at the Tema Port on August 18, 2026, for a 10-month field service in partnership with the Government of Ghana, where the world’s largest multi-purpose-built civilian hospital ships would offer free surgical care on board.

In addition to providing free surgeries, the Ships would work closely with national partners to strengthen the nation’s surgical and anaesthetic systems.

This year’s visit marks Mercy Ship’s fifth deployment to Ghana since 1991, building on a legacy of impactful collaboration.

Previous visits had facilitated over 2,600 life-altering surgeries, 16,700 dental procedures, and the professional development of 139 Ghanaian healthcare professionals.

President Mahama said during his official visit and tour of the Global Mercy Hospital Ships, welcomed and expressed gratitude to the crew for returning to Ghana to provide free life-changing surgeries and medical care to Ghanaians.

He urged all partners in the collaborative effort, to make the visit count in the lives of patients and in strengthening Ghana’s health systems for years to come.

The President after an inspection of the wards of the Ships, particularly the orthopedic section, recounted some emotional stories with pictures of patients who had undergone correctional surgeries to place broad smiles on their faces, as they walked out to face the world anew.

He noted some of these patients, mostly children, had faced stigma and discrimination because of their deformities, like curved legs or clubfoot and could not play their desired games like football with their friends, but the success of surgeries gave them hope, confidence and joy to do so.

President Mahama thanked the facility and its crew for their generosity and humanism.

The President on behalf of all the Ghanaian patients who would be benefitting from the mission and services of the Mercy Ships, thanked the donors, medical team, crew, volunteers and especially, the Ghanaian partners for the generosity that would bring hope to the hopeless and put smiles on the faces of many.

“This is not the first time you have been here, and this is not going to be the last time Mercy Ships is coming here,” he stated.

He noted that a patient who needed surgery would not have to give up because treatment was too far away or beyond their family’s means, saying, the free care being offered onboard the Mercy Ships would make a difference to patients and the people who care for them.

President Mahama thanked Madam Dame Ann Gloag, the Lifetime Director, Mercy Ships International, Mr Kwabena Mintah Akandoh, the Health Minister; and Dr Cassiel Ato Baah Forson, the Minister of Finance, for facilitating the visit.

He also thanked Archbishop Nicholas Duncan Williams, the Presiding Archbishop of Action Chapel International, and the other friends of Mercy Ships, who had worked hard to sustain this partnership.

The President acknowledged that the Mercy Ships had served Ghana on four previous visits as far back as 1991 and delivered more than 2,600 surgeries and 16,700 dental procedures and they supported the development of 139 Ghanaian health professionals.

He noted that this faith deployment gave them the opportunity to reach patients who had waited for specialist care, plant services including operations for cataracts, cleft lips and palates, tumours, childhood orthopedic conditions and other treatable conditions.

“To the patients and families here today, you are the reason for this partnership. I wish each of you safe treatment and a good recovery. But the value of this visit must extend beyond the surgeries performed while the ship is here in port,” President Mahama said.

He noted that Ghanaian surgeons, anesthesia professionals, nurses and other health workers would have the opportunities to learn alongside the team aboard the Mercy Ships.

He said Mercy Ships had also supported work on Ghana’s national plan for surgical obstetric and anesthesia care; declaring that they should use this visit to strengthen the services their hospitals could provide long after the Ship had departed.

The President said the Government was expanding Free Primary Healthcare, strengthening the National Health Insurance Programme and investing in hospitals and health workers.

He said through the Ghana Medical Trust Fund, they were also working to reduce the burden of serious non-communicable diseases on families.

President Mahama said the specialist care Mercy Ships provided a valuable contribution to the wider effort of governments and expected the responsible ministries and agencies, to work together to promptly facilitate and handle patient movement, medical supplies and other operational arrangements, in accordance with Ghanaian law.

President Mahama pledged the governments continuous support to facilitate the work of the medical team onboard the Mercy Ships

Madam Dame Ann Gloag, Lifetime Director, Global Mercy Ships International, expressed gratitude to President John Dramani Mahama for his support in bringing the Mercy Ships Mission back to Ghana.