Gabon - October 03, 2024

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy hospital ship "Peace Ark" completed its week-long mission in Gabon and left for Cameroon on Thursday.

At 10:00 local time, the Peace Ark left the Owendo Port in Libreville, the capital of Gabon, where Gabonese officials, local residents, staff of Chinese institutions, and overseas Chinese held a seeing-off ceremony and waved goodbye to the soldiers on board.

During the seven days in Gabon, the Peace Ark used its main platform to provide medical services to incoming patients. In addition, it also dispatched expert teams and medical teams to local hospitals to offer joint medical treatment to local residents.

The medical professionals on the ship provided medical treatment to over 6,900 people, conducted auxiliary examinations for more than 3,300 people, and successfully performed 171 surgeries.

The hospital ship also performed the first ship-based robotic operation on a 71-year-old male patient in Gabon after having a confirmed diagnosis and getting the patient's consent.

When offering joint medical treatment, doctors from China and Gabon engaged in in-depth discussions on surgical skills. Gabonese doctors also observed a gallbladder removal surgery on the Peace Ark.

The Peace Ark set sail from a military port in Zhoushan in east China's Zhejiang Province in mid-June for the Mission Harmony-2024.

During the mission, the ship will visit 13 countries in total and provide medical services to local people. It will also make port calls to France and Greece.

Shotlist:
Gabon - Oct 3, 2024:
1. Seeing-off ceremony in progress;
2. Various of soldiers aboard China's Peace Ark hospital ship waving goodbye;
3. Peace Ark leaving port;
4. Hospital ship at sea;
Gabon - Sept 27 - Oct 2, 2024
5. Local people waiting outside hospital ship;
6. Local people boarding ship;
7. Various of people waiting in line for medical service;
8. Various of Chinese doctors treating patients;
9. Various of surgery in progress;
10. Various of medical equipment;
11. Various of joint medical treatment in progress;
12. Doctor preparing for surgery;
13. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Pang Tao, doctor of Mission Harmony-2024 (starting with shots 11-12/ending with shot 14):
"The operation went smoothly. Gabonese doctors observed the whole process of our surgery. We exchanged experiences with them about promoting minimally invasive surgery in Gabon. The advanced medical facilities on the hospital ship and the professional skills of Chinese doctors are recognized by Gabonese doctors.";
14. Various of doctors performing surgery.

[Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]