Global community perception of 'surgical care' as a public health issue: a cross sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: In the last decade surgical care has been propelled into the public health domain with the establishment of a World Health Organisation (WHO) designated programme and key publications. The passing of the historic World Health Assembly Resolution (WHA) acknowledged surgical care as a vital component towards achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC). We conducted the first worldwide survey to explore the perception of surgical care as a public health issue. METHOD: The anonymous, cross sectional survey targeted worldwide participants across a range of professional backgrounds, including non-medical using virtual snowball sampling method (in English) using Google Forms (Google Inc., Mountain View, CA, USA) from 20th February 2019 to 25th June 2019. The survey questions were designed to gauge awareness on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), UHC, WHO programmes and key publications on surgical care as well as perception of surgical care as a priority topic in public health. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 1954 respondents from 118 countries. Respondents were least aware of surgical care as a teaching topic in public health courses (27%; n = 526) and as a WHO programme (20%; n = 384). 82% of respondents were aware of UHC (n = 1599) and of this 72% (n = 1152) agreed that surgical care fits within UHC. While 77% (n = 1495) of respondents were aware of SDGs, only 19% (n = 370) agreed that surgery was a priority to meet SDGs. 48% (n = 941) rated surgical care as a cost-effective component of Primary Health Care. 88% (n = 1712) respondents had not read the WHA Resolution on 'Strengthening emergency and essential surgical care and anaesthesia as a component of UHC'. CONCLUSION: There is still a widespread gap in awareness on the importance of surgical care as a public health issue amongst our respondents. Surgical care was not seen as a priority to reach the SDGs, less visible as a WHO programme and not perceived as an important topic for public health courses.

Priorities for the global advancement of care for older adults with cancer: an update of the International Society of Geriatric Oncology Priorities Initiative.

In 2011, the International Society of Geriatric Oncology (SIOG) published the SIOG 10 Priorities Initiative, which defined top priorities for the improvement of the care of older adults with cancer worldwide.1 Substantial scientific, clinical, and educational progress has been made in line with these priorities and international health policy developments have occurred, such as the shift of emphasis by WHO from communicable to non-communicable diseases and the adoption by the UN of its Sustainable Development Goals 2030. Therefore, SIOG has updated its priority list. The present document addresses four priority domains: education, clinical practice, research, and strengthening collaborations and partnerships. In this Policy Review, we reflect on how these priorities would apply in different economic settings, namely in high-income countries versus low-income and middle-income countries. SIOG hopes that it will offer guidance for international and national endeavours to provide adequate universal health coverage for older adults with cancer, who represent a major and rapidly growing group in global epidemiology.

Survey of the capacity for essential surgery and anaesthesia services in Papua New Guinea.

OBJECTIVE: To assess capacity to provide essential surgical services including emergency, obstetric and anaesthesia care in Papua New Guinea (PNG) in order to support planning for relevant post-2015 sustainable development goals for PNG. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Hospitals and health facilities in PNG. PARTICIPANTS: 21 facilities including 3 national/provincial hospitals, 11 district/rural hospitals, and 7 health centres. OUTCOME MEASURES: The WHO Situational Analysis Tool to Assess Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (WHO-SAT) was used to measure each participating facility's capacity to deliver essential surgery and anaesthesia services, including 108 items related to relevant infrastructure, human resources, interventions and equipment. RESULTS: While major surgical procedures were provided at each hospital, fewer than 30% had uninterrupted access to oxygen, and 57% had uninterrupted access to resuscitation bag and mask. Most hospitals reported capacity to provide general anaesthesia, though few hospitals reported having at least one certified surgeon, obstetrician and anaesthesiologist. Access to anaesthetic machines, pulse oximetry and blood bank was severely limited. Many non-hospital health centres providing basic surgical procedures, but almost none had uninterrupted access to electricity, running water, oxygen and basic supplies for resuscitation, airway management and obstetric services. CONCLUSIONS: Capacity for essential surgery and anaesthesia services is severely limited in PNG due to shortfalls in physical infrastructure, human resources, and basic equipment and supplies. Achieving post-2015 sustainable development goals, including universal healthcare, will require significant investment in surgery and anaesthesia capacity in PNG.

The global burden of musculoskeletal injuries: challenges and solutions.

Musculoskeletal injuries are a major public health problem globally, contributing a large burden of disability and suffering. This burden could be considerably lowered by implementation of affordable and sustainable strategies to strengthen orthopaedic trauma care, especially in low- and middle-income countries. This article summarizes the global burden of musculoskeletal injuries and provides several examples of successful programs that have improved care of injuries in health facilities in low- and middle-income countries. Finally, it discusses WHO efforts to build on the country experiences and to make progress in lowering the burden of musculoskeletal injuries globally.

Essential emergency surgical, procedures in resource-limited facilities: a WHO workshop in Mongolia.

A WHO 'Training of Trainers' workshop on essential emergency surgical procedures was organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Mongolia. The participants included doctors and nurses from the six selected aimags (provinces). Facilitators of the workshop included experts from the Faculty of Health Science University, Mongolian Surgeon's Association and Mongolian Association of Anaesthesiologists association with the Swiss Surgical Team of the International College of Surgeons, Surgical Department of Nurse's College, Trauma Orthopaedic Clinical Hospital, the Department of Quality Assurance of the Directorate of Medical Services, Ministry of Health. Facilitators from the Hospital University of Geneva, Geneva Foundation of Medical Education and Research (RHR) and Evidence and Information for Policy in Geneva, Switzerland participated via video link. The workshop included lectures, discussions, role playing and 'hands on' basic skills training. Videoconference and e-learning sessions using the WHO e-learning tools were conducted at the Global Development Learning Centre. The topics covered during this training workshop included team responsibility and organisation in a health care facility; patient safety; disaster planning; appropriate use of oxygen; management of bleeding, burns and trauma; basic anaesthetic and resuscitation techniques; prevention of HIV transmission; sterilisation of equipment; waste disposal; hygiene; record keeping, monitoring and evaluation of quality of care and checklists prior to surgery to assure that the correct patient gets the correct surgery on the correct side at the correct time. Recommendations were made by the participants on the next steps after this training.