Friday, the arrival of the USNS Comfort hospital ship was officially announced during a ceremony at Naval Base Admiral Killick of Haitian Coast Guard to Bizoton, in the presence of the First Lady Sophia Martelly, the Minister Health, Dr. Florence Duperval Guillaume, Ambassador of the United States, Pamela White, Ambassador of Canada, Paula Caldwell St-Onge, the Ambassador of Cuba, Ricardo Sotero Garcia Napoles and other personalities.

In her address Ambassador White stressed "[...] Over the next 8 days, we will all work together: American, Haitian, doctors, nurses, translators, police, public and private sector, NGOs, all in order to help others. Together we will do the work of the Good Samaritan... This Mission is here for a few days, but the Ministry of Health is here every day. We are proud to support the Comfort, but we also work with the Ministry of Health, to continue its mission to improve the quality of health care in Haiti. We all dream of the day when the Comfort will no longer need to travel to Haiti, but in the meantime we will continue to support Haiti."

The USNS Comfort hospital ship began a humanitarian mission of medical assistance for a week called "Continuing Promise". Free medical care will be provided to Port-au-Prince to the local of Haitian Coast Guard (to Bizoton), and Hôpital Saint-Luc (in Tabarre 41) until 18 September 2015.

Every day, patients will be examined until the limit of capacities. Medical care will include general care, pediatric, dental, ophthalmic, orthopedic and other. Support teams of Comfortwill also assist their Haitian partners in the veterinary services and in engineering projects, and participate in medical exchanges.

Note that the crew of the hospital ship includes medical staff including different partner nations, various NGO representatives, members of the US Armed Forces, US Interagency and Military Command of the US Navy .

This fourth visit of USNS Comfort in Haiti is another example of the strong commitment of the US government to the Haitian people, especially in the field of medical care.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-15097-haiti-humanitarian-launch-of-the-mission-of-the-hospital-ship-usns-comfort.html

HL/ HaitiLibre