Monrovia-Liberia - Vice President Chief Dr. Jewel Howard-Taylor is proposing the training of Liberian technicians in the operation of the DNA machine recently donated to the Government of Liberia by the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL).

According to VP Howard-Taylor, while Government welcomes the donation of such useful instrument, she has received information that the machine is not in use owing to the lack of experienced technicians to operate it.

The Liberian Vice President was speaking Thursday, October 4, 2018, when she received in audience a 5-member Mercy Ships International delegation headed by the Country Representative of the World Health Organization to Liberia (WHO), Dr. Pierre M’Pele, at her capitol Building Office.

Vice President Howard-Taylor according to a release from the VP’s Office urged the Delegation to help train nurses and other health practitioners in Liberia on the usage and maintenance of the DNA machine.

“The DNA machine which is first of its kind in Liberia will help stop people traveling to Ghana to conduct DNA tests, and the machine will also help to make the work of the Ministry of Gender, Children& Social Protection easier,“the  VP told the Mercy Ship delegation.

Speaking earlier, Dr. M’Pele, who is also Africa’s Ambassador for Mercy Ships, explained that the aim of the visit was to engage the authorities on a five year protocol collaboration agreement with the Government of Liberia.

He intimated that Mercy Ships is partnering with the Government of Liberia to help boost and improve the health sector and train health practitioners in various areas including capacity building and Agriculture.

The WHO Ambassador for Africa disclosed that this Mercy Ships returning to Liberia is two times bigger than the one in Guinea, adding that donations on-board the Ship are from people around the world.

Also speaking, the National Director of Mercy Ships in South Africa, Brenda Van Straten, said that by the end of 2020 the Ship will be in Liberia to support the local health system and will share experiences in the conduct of surgeries with health practitioners in Liberia.

The hospital ship provides free lifesaving surgeries for people in areas where medical care is nearly non-existent. It brings volunteer medical teams and sterile operating rooms directly to people who would otherwise go without care. It’s the world’s largest civilian hospital ship providing state-of-the-art care to those in desperate need at no cost to them.