DILI, 04 september 2023 (TATOLI) – The Chinese naval hospital ship “Peace Ark” docked in Dili’s Port and began providing medical services to the Timorese communities in Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste.
Hundreds of Timorese began visiting the “Peace Ark” on the very first day to seek treatment for their illnesses.
The Chinese doctors, accompanied by the Minister of Health, Elia dos Reis Amaral, began providing medical services free of charge to the communities.
The Ministry of Health urged the local communities to visit the ship to receive special treatment from Chinese doctors
Meanwhile, personnel from Chinese institutions and Chinese communities living in Timor-Leste also will receive medical treatment from the Peace Ark.
The Beijing floating hospital arrived in the port of Dili on sunday and received a warm welcome from the President of the Republic, José Ramos Horta, the Minister of Health, Amaral, and the Major General of the Timor-Leste National Defense Forces (F-FDTL), Falur Rate Laek.
The ship visits Timor-Leste after its trip to Solomon Island on 26 August.
The Peace Ark is scheduled to provide medical services in Dili from 4 to 10 september, from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm local time.
The hospital ship has 126 medical staffers and boasts 26 clinical departments and 7 auxiliary departments. It is capable of carrying out more than 40 kinds of examinations, treatments, and operations in general surgery, orthopedics, obstetrics and gynecology, and other disciplines.
Since it entered into service in 2008, the hospital ship has visited 43 countries and regions, provided medical services for more than 250,000 patients, and performed more than 1,500 surgeries on voyages covering over 260,000 nautical miles
“Well equipped with a magnetically guided capsule endoscope, an intravenous anesthesia robot, a new type of portable endoscope, and other sophisticated medical apparatuses, the Peace Ark enabled medical staff to diagnose and treat complicated diseases on board,” Xinhua reported.
The visit to Timor-Leste would be the last country of the ship’s Harmonious Mission 2023. The other four countries are Kiribati, Tonga, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
