Strengthening Health Systems for Universal Health Coverage: Implementing Surgical Care
5 billion people do not have access to safe, timely, and affordable surgical and anesthesia care when needed and over 100 million additional surgical procedures are needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) each year to save lives and prevent disability.
These figures clearly demonstrate that acting alone through direct medical services is not sufficient to fill the overwhelming need for surgical and anesthesia care in low-resource settings, but will also require education, training, and advocacy.
The NGOs Operation Smile and Mercy Ships are co-organizing this World Health Assembly (WHA) side event in order to raise the voices of healthcare specialists from LMICs.
Developing Education and Training activities will offer greatly needed improvements; but efforts to mobilize governments, multi-lateral international organizations, professional societies, aligned NGOs, and academia to remedy this dire situation through collective action can be a decisive factor