Date: Friday, November 15, 2024
Time: 3:00pm-4:30pm (CAT/GMT+1) / 5:00-6:30pm (EAT/GMT+3)
Venue: Zoom, online (REGISTER NOW)

Background

Global surgery, once regarded as a neglected stepchild of global health, has gained increasing recognition as countries strive to strengthen their health systems. Surgical care is now widely acknowledged as an essential component of universal health coverage. According to estimates, a staggering 5 billion people worldwide lack access to safe, timely, and affordable surgical and anesthesia care. This disparity is even more pronounced in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where 9 in 10 individuals are unable to receive the surgical care they need. The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery highlighted in its landmark 2015 report that investing in surgery could avert millions of deaths globally and that surgery is a cost-effective public health intervention.

Ethiopia has been at the forefront of this movement. In 2015, the country became one of the early adopters of a National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anesthesia Plan (NSOAP) called “Saving Lives Through Safe Surgery” (SaLTS). This initiative aimed to address the significant gaps in surgical care by focusing on increasing access, improving quality, and enhancing infrastructure for surgical services. Through SaLTS, Ethiopia sought to reduce the unmet need for surgical care and integrate surgery into its broader health system strengthening efforts.

Research has played a pivotal role in this journey. It has been crucial in identifying the key challenges in global surgery, such as workforce shortages, inadequate infrastructure, and financial barriers. In Ethiopia, research efforts can help tailor the SaLTS program to address context-specific challenges, such as the uneven distribution of surgical care between urban and rural areas and the scarcity of trained surgical professionals. Studies conducted within the country have shed light on the availability of surgical services at different levels of the healthcare system, leading to targeted interventions to improve surgical capacity in underserved regions. This has not only strengthened Ethiopia’s surgical system but also contributed to the global body of knowledge on how to effectively scale up surgical care in resource-limited settings. In addition to strengthening healthcare systems, global surgery research has significant implications for health equity by highlighting the need for accessible surgical care to vulnerable populations who are often left behind in broader health initiatives. By addressing these inequities, countries like Ethiopia are contributing to the global goal of achieving health for all.

Objectives

The webinar will convene key stakeholders to evaluate the current state of global surgery research in Ethiopia. The session will aims to:

• Outline and review ongoing research activities in the field of global surgery within Ethiopia.
• Identify and analyze the challenges and barriers impacting global surgery research.
• Discuss and strategize potential opportunities for advancing research efforts.
• Facilitate contributions from each participant to ensure a comprehensive and multi-perspective understanding of the subject matter.

Targeted Audience

This webinar is designed for healthcare professionals, global health leaders, policymakers, researchers, public health specialists, students, and anyone from the global surgery and research community with an interest in Ethiopia..

Venue

This discussion will be an online event hosted on the Zoom platform and broadcasted on Facebook.

Expected outputs

– Enhanced understanding of the state of global surgery research in Ethiopia.

– Identification of key challenges and opportunities for improvement.

– Strategic recommendations for advancing research and policy.