Determinants of Access to Essential Surgery in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

INTRODUCTION: In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the determinants and barriers of essential surgical care are not well described, hindering efforts to improve national surgical programs and access. METHODS: A cross-sectional study evaluated access to essential surgery in the Butembo and Katwa health zones in the North Kivu province of DRC. A double-clustered random sample of community members was surveyed using questions derived from the Surgeons OverSeas Surgical Needs Assessment Survey, a validated tool to determine the reasons for not seeking, reaching, or receiving a Bellwether surgery (i.e., caesarean delivery, laparotomy, and external fixation of a fracture) when needed. RESULTS: Overall, 887 households comprising 5944 community members were surveyed from April to August 2022. Six percent (n = 363/5944) of the study population involving 35% (n = 309/887) households needed a Bellwether surgery in the previous year, 30% (n = 108/363) of whom died. Of those who needed surgery, 25% (n = 78) did not go to the hospital to seek care and were more likely to find transportation unaffordable (P = 0.042). The most common reasons for not seeking care were lack of funds for hospitalization, prior poor hospital experience, and fear of hospital care. CONCLUSIONS: Access and delivery of essential surgery are drastically limited in the North Kivu province of the DRC, such that a quarter of households needing surgery fails to seek surgical care. Poor access was predominantly driven by households' inability to pay for surgery and community distrust of the hospital system.

Getting It Right the First Time: Defining Regionally Relevant Training Curricula and Provider Core Competencies for Point-of-Care Ultrasound Education on the African Continent.

Significant evidence identifies point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) as an important diagnostic and therapeutic tool in resource-limited settings. Despite this evidence, local health care providers on the African continent continue to have limited access to and use of ultrasound, even in potentially high-impact fields such as obstetrics and trauma. Dedicated postgraduate emergency medicine residency training programs now exist in 8 countries, yet no current consensus exists in regard to core PoCUS competencies. The current practice of transferring resource-rich PoCUS curricula and delivery methods to resource-limited health systems fails to acknowledge the unique challenges, needs, and disease burdens of recipient systems. As emergency medicine leaders from 8 African countries, we introduce a practical algorithmic approach, based on the local epidemiology and resource constraints, to curriculum development and implementation. We describe an organizational structure composed of nexus learning centers for PoCUS learners and champions on the continent to keep credentialing rigorous and standardized. Finally, we put forth 5 key strategic considerations: to link training programs to hospital systems, to prioritize longitudinal learning models, to share resources to promote health equity, to maximize access, and to develop a regional consensus on training standards and credentialing.

Alternative Ultrasound Gel for a Sustainable Ultrasound Program: Application of Human Centered Design.

This paper describes design of a low cost, ultrasound gel from local products applying aspects of Human Centered Design methodology. A multidisciplinary team worked with clinicians who use ultrasound where commercial gel is cost prohibitive and scarce. The team followed the format outlined in the Ideo Took Kit. Research began by defining the challenge "how to create locally available alternative ultrasound gel for a low-resourced environment? The "End-Users," were identified as clinicians who use ultrasound in Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ethiopia. An expert group was identified and queried for possible alternatives to commercial gel. Responses included shampoo, oils, water and cornstarch. Cornstarch, while a reasonable solution, was either not available or too expensive. We then sought deeper knowledge of locally sources materials from local experts, market vendors, to develop a similar product. Suggested solutions gleaned from these interviews were collected and used to create ultrasound gel accounting for cost, image quality, manufacturing capability. Initial prototypes used cassava root flour from Great Lakes Region (DRC, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania) and West Africa, and bula from Ethiopia. Prototypes were tested in the field and resulting images evaluated by our user group. A final prototype was then selected. Cassava and bula at a 32 part water, 8 part flour and 4 part salt, heated, mixed then cooled was the product design of choice.