AIDOCEAN
A humanitarian sailboat to help children in the Pacific Islands
Nouméa June 8, 2022 – OceanVacciTour (OVT) launchs AIDOCEAN’s project on World Oceans Day.
Supported by the French Development Agency and the Planète Bleue Foundation, AIDOCEAN is a humanitarian vaccination program in the isolated regions of the Pacific. The main goal is to prevent the resurgence of epidemics such as measles, rubella, etc.
« In 2019, measles killed 207,500 people worldwide. With the concentration on COVID19 in recent years, WHO estimates that this figure could reach or even exceed one million in 2022, » says the OVT’s chairwoman and nurse Marine Bayer,
The first humanitarian mission will be in Papua New Guinea on the island of New Ireland in September and October of this year.
The 8 person team will offer basic medical care and vaccines to isolated tribes to help prevent a possible outbreak of the diseases. « At the end of the day, it is about saving lives » said Marine, a former helicopter pilot in the Navy.
Progress can be followed on www.aidocean.org as well as on Instagram and Facebook at the name of @aidocean
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For more information or interview request, please contact aidoceanasso@gmail.com – www.aidocean.org
SCOUNTING Papua New Guinea :
Marine will soon be leaving for Port Moresby, the capital of Papua New Guinea, to meet the various interlocutors, starting with the Ambassador of France. She will then go to Kavieng in New Ireland to do some scouting and ensure that this first mission is well prepared with the local health authorities.
“Training and supporting health professionals on site is one of the major objectives of AIDOCEAN. We must try to make a lasting impact on the tribes we visit.”
Marine will be meeting the local schools of nurses and doctors in order to select the locals who will be join the program onboard AIDOCEAN for this first mission.
Aidocean key team members :
“Marine and Jean-Michel combine their skills to help those in need”
Marine Bayer: Ex-combat helicopter pilot in the French Navy, Marine is decorated with the Legion of Honor for his heroic behavior during Operation Thalatine. On April 4, 2008, Le Ponant was cruising in the Gulf of Aden when she was attacked by Somalian pirates. Marine was involved in the mission of freeing the ship’s hostages.
Marine currently lives in Nouméa, New Caledonia and has been a nurse for 10 years. She has worked in various departments (palliative, emergency, diabetes, ENT, etc.) and also has a DU in tropical medicine.
Jean-Michel Pontier : A military doctor with a degree in emergency and disaster médicine, Jean Michel participated in several missions and specialized unit operations of the Special Operations Command in Central Europe (Kosovo), Afghanistan and Sahel. He was also Medical Officer of the specialized unit of Combat Swimmers of Commando Hubert.