The ‘Peace Ark’ Naval Hospital Ship from China departed Nuku’alofa today Wednesday, 20 August after a week of providing free medical services to over 4,000 outpatients and performing 39 surgeries.

The ship which brought 385 crew, including 132 medical personnel, received over 4,000 outpatients since 14 August, at Vuna Wharf.

The Chinese medical team assisted by Tongan doctors and nurses had also carried out 39 different types of surgeries that included cataract surgery for the eyes, which at the moment cannot be done at Vaiola Hospital.

One of the surgery cases was to remove a bullet from the body of a Tongan American who was shot while he was in the USA. He had previously had one of two bullets in his body removed in the USA. The remaining bullet was removed by a surgeon from the Peace Ark. 

The Mission Commander Rear Admiral Shen Hao said apart from the outpatients visits and surgeries his medical team had carried out CT and auxiliary examinations, endoscopy investigation, x-ray, ultrasonography and cases of pathology examinations.

“As Mission Commander I want to express our heartfelt thanks to the Tongan government, military, medical team, the Tongan and Chinese people for visiting and trusting our work at the ship."

He said a visit to the Peace Ark by the King Tupou VI and Queen Nanasipau'u on 19 August was the greatest honour as it was a great confirmation of their work.

"I am sure our visit promotes mutual trust and strengthen friendship between our two countries, militaries and the Tongan medical team," he said.

Medical assistance

Tonga’s Director of Health Dr Siale ‘Akau’ola was grateful to the Chinese for their medical assistance.

He said although he had not seen the final report on the cases treated he knew there were a variety of surgeries carried out on board which included surgeries to remove lumps and cataract for the eye.

“Most of the surgeries conducted can be done at Vaiola with the exception of the cataract surgery because our doctor that specialised in this field has moved to work abroad. The cataract surgery then can only be done by an overseas cataract team visiting Tonga, so it was great help that some people were able to get the eye surgery,” he said.

Dr 'Akau'ola said a lot of the people who turned out at the ship's outpatients were for various cases including skin cases and eye check ups.

Some were referred from clinics, including those suffering from diabetes and heart disease, to get further check ups since they had advanced medical equipment on board, he said.

“We had two doctors and eight nurses assisting the Chinese on board daily. We even had some of our Tongan doctors trained in China on hand to help with the work and communication. But since day one the Chinese team were very professional as some had worked in US naval hospital ships so they were all well trained and had specialists in each medical field,” he said.

Dr 'Akau'ola said apart from the benefit of the people receiving immediate medical care the other significant aspect was their working together.

"My team got exposed to the different medical options available in the world today. The learning experience was the most significant thing that we got from this exchange."

The Peace Ark left Nuku’alofa for Fiji this morning in its goodwill visit to four Pacific islands during its Harmony Mission 2014.