Phl accepts China offer to send hospital ship

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines has accepted China’s offer to send its Peace Ark hospital ship to the country to give medical aid to victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda, Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said yesterday.

He said concerned agencies are now working on the schedule and other details related to the deployment of the hospital ship.

China announced on Wednesday its plan to send Peace Ark to Tacloban City.

Zhang Hua, deputy chief of the political section and spokesman of the Chinese embassy in Manila, said China has also been stepping up its relief assistance to the country.

“The Chinese government has been following the situation closely and giving our helping hand immediately,” he said.

Zhang said China has deployed more than 80 doctors and nurses to Yolanda-ravaged areas.

A chartered plane bringing 2,000 tents, medicine and medical equipment to the disaster area is also expected to arrive tomorrow.

“They have promised to leave all the medicine and medical devices to the Philippine side when they concluded their mission,” he said.

The Peace Ark hospital ship is the first 10,000- ton-class hospital ship in the world that is equipped with 217 types and 2,406 units of advanced medical systems, including a CT scan room, digital X-ray photographic studio, blood bank, oxygen generation station, compressed air system and pharmacy.

Peace Ark has 300 ward beds of various types – including 20 intensive care unit ward beds, 109 ward beds for serious injury, 67 burn ward beds, 94 regular ward beds and 10 beds of quarantine ward. There is also tele-medicine diagnostic system and three lifts with special specifications for transferring the wounded on the board.

Zhang said the Chinese embassy has been working round the clock to facilitate relief efforts in the country.

“It also joined the government’s efforts in donating P1.2 million worth of emergency supplies, including radios, emergency lights and flashlights, to Leyte and Samar,” he said. “The diplomats in the embassy organized a donation for the Filipino staff who are from the typhoon-hit areas.”