- New estimates suggest that the number of people worldwide unable to
access basic surgery and anaesthesia is more than twice as high as
previously thought
- Key findings and recommendations to address lack of access focus on
upscaling the surgical workforce through sustainable training, task
shifting and collaboration across the healthcare spectrum
- The GE Foundation Biomedical Equipment Technician (BMET) training
program, highlighted in the Commission as a “best in class” model for
sustainable training, increases the capacity of biomedical equipment
and develops talent in region
Company Website:
http://www.ge.com
FAIRFIELD, Conn. -- (Business Wire)
Millions of people are dying from common, easily-treatable conditions
like appendicitis, fractures, or obstructed labor because they do not
have access to proper surgical care, according to a major new
Commission, published in The Lancet. The Commission
reveals that five billion people worldwide do not have access to safe
and affordable surgery and anesthesia when they need it, and access is
worst in low- and lower-middle income countries, where as many as nine
out of ten people cannot access basic surgical care.
Just under a third of all deaths in 2010 (32.9%, 16.9 million deaths)
were from conditions treatable with surgery – well surpassing the number
of deaths from HIV / AIDS, TB, and malaria combined. Yet despite this
enormous burden of death and illness – which is largely borne by the
world’s poorest people – surgery has, until now, been overlooked as a
critical need for the health of the world’s population. As a result,
untreated surgical conditions have exerted substantial but largely
unrecognized negative effects on human health, welfare, and economic
development.
“In the absence of surgical care, common, easily treatable illnesses
become fatal,” says Andy Leather, Director of the King’s Centre for
Global Health, King’s College London, UK, and one of the Commission’s
lead authors. “The global community cannot continue to ignore this
problem – millions of people are already dying unnecessarily, and the
need for equitable and affordable access to surgical services is
projected to increase in the coming decades, as many of the worst
affected countries face rising rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease,
and road accidents.”
Of the 313 million operations done worldwide each year, just one in 20
occur in the poorest countries, where over a third of the world’s
population lives. New estimates produced for the Commission find that
there is a global shortfall of at least 143 million surgical procedures
every year, with some regions needing nearly twice as many additional
operations as others.
“The GE Foundation and our partners have been implementing programs to
address the significant impediments to improve access to healthcare and
increase capacity for global safe surgery for over 10 years,” says Dr.
David Barash, Executive Director, Global Health Portfolio, and Chief
Medical Officer, GE Foundation. “Through our focus areas we are
providing innovative solutions that have lasting impact, such as
sustainable biomedical equipment technician training and anesthesia
training for nurses, safe water solutions in health facilities, and
oxygen production and delivery in low-resource settings. To that end, we
are shifting our investment strategy to focus of global safe surgery. We
are pleased to be included in this important Commission and the broader
global health community in prioritizing access to safe surgery globally.”
Despite the overwhelming magnitude of the problem, the Commission
estimates that the countries where access to surgery is weakest could be
scaled up to acceptable, and achievable, levels of access to surgery by
2030 with an investment of $US 420 billion, a cost far outweighed by the
devastating economic cost to countries, communities, and families
incurred by the current global shortfall in access to surgery. This
highly cost-effective investment in surgery needs to be accompanied by
sustainable financing mechanisms across the health care system, say the
authors, and a firm commitment to universal health coverage.
The Commission provides detailed figures on the economic returns that
might be expected to accompany the needed global expansion of surgery,
noting that between 2015 and 2030 surgical conditions will be
responsible for a cumulative loss to the global economy of $20.7 million
or 1.3% of projected economic output. The Commission also includes a
much-needed set of indicators and recommendations to improve access to
safe and affordable surgery and anesthesia, and a policy template for
national surgical plans. It is accompanied by a substantial body of
original research which was used to inform the Commission’s findings,
and is published in the journals Surgery and The
Lancet Global Health.
“Although the scale-up costs are large, the costs of inaction are
higher, and will accumulate progressively with delay,” says Commission
lead author John Meara, Kletjian Professor in Global Surgery at Harvard
Medical School, USA. “There is a pervasive misconception that the costs
of providing safe and accessible surgery put it beyond the reach of any
but the richest countries. But our work for this Commission clearly
shows that not only are the costs of providing these essential services
lower than might have been thought, but that scale-up of surgical and
anesthesia care should be viewed as a highly-cost-effective investment,
rather than a cost.”
The Commission was written by a group of 25 leading experts from across
the fields of surgery and anesthesia, with contributions from more than
110 countries. The report examines the case for surgery as an integral
component of health care, focusing on low- and middle-income countries,
where need is greatest. The GE Foundation was one of several
contributors to the report, including a case study on BMET training
being led by its partners Duke University and Engineering World Health,
found in the appendix.
The Commission will
be launched on Monday,April
27 with a day-long symposium at the Royal Society of Medicine in
London, UK, followed by a day-long conference, “Global
surgery, anaesthesia, and obstetrics: shifting paradigms and challenging
generations,” organized by the Royal
Society of Medicine and Royal College of Surgeons of England.
Immediately following will be the North American launch on May 6th
in Boston, with a day-long event discussing the Commission's key
findings and the role of various stakeholders in building a movement for
sustainable, resilient health systems. The GE Foundation will be
participating in panel discussions at both events, speaking to the
implementation of the Commission’s recommendations.
ABOUT GE FOUNDATION
The GE Foundation, the philanthropic organization of GE, is committed to
building a world that works better. We empower people by helping them
build the skills they need to succeed in a global economy. We equip
communities with the technology and capacity to improve access to better
health and education. We elevate ideas that are tackling the world's
toughest challenges to advance economic development and improve lives.
The GE Foundation is powered by the generosity and talent of our
employees, who have a strong commitment to their communities. We are at
work making the world work better. Follow the GE Foundation at www.gefoundation.com
and on Twitter at @GE_Foundation.
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
For full Commission, see: http://www.thelancet.com/commissions/global-surgery
For infographic, see: https://youtu.be/bRf8PbQgjGU
Contacts:
General Electric
Media:
Tracy Doyle
GE Public Affairs
M
+1-262-853-6983
tracy.doyle@ge.com
or
FTI
Consulting
Shauna Elkin
Strategic Communications
T
+1-212-850-5613 | M +1-917-378-9624
Shauna.Elkin@fticonsulting.com
Source: The GE Foundation
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