Surgery is an indivisible, and indispensable part of health care. The 2015 Lancet Commission on Global Surgery highlighted the need for greater emphasis on surgical system strengthening and created the momentum required to develop effective strategies to address the high surgical need globally. The Commission suggested that more than 5 billion people lack access to safe, affordable surgical and anaesthesia care when needed. An additional 143 million surgical procedures are required each year to save lives and prevent disability. For those who can access surgical services, more than 33 million individuals face catastrophic health expenditure due to payment for surgery. This event assessed the progress that has been made in global surgery since the publication of the 2015 Lancet Commission and presented an outlook about the future direction of the field.
Meet our speakers and chair
Andrew Leather is a Professor of Global Health and Surgery at King’s College London. He was a Consultant Surgeon at King’s College Hospital from 1996-2015, holding various roles at the hospital including Clinical Director for Surgery. He co-chaired the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery from 2013-2015, and his research focuses on improving outcomes for surgical patients in low resource settings. He started the King’s Global Health Partnerships and provides strategic support for long-standing partnerships in Somaliland, Sierra Leone, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zambia.
Rocco Friebel is an Assistant Professor of Health Policy, Director of the Global Surgery Policy Unit, and Deputy Director of LSE Health. He is specialised in the economics of health system delivery and the evaluation of complex interventions aimed at improving quality of care. His research comprises the fields of health policy evaluation, patient safety, universal health coverage, and surgical priority setting.
Short description of the Unit
The Global Surgery Policy Unit is a unique and strategic collaboration between the Royal College of Surgeons of England and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Established to advance global public health, surgical and anaesthesia care, with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries, the Unit aims to increase access to safe, affordable, high-quality surgery, to improve public health, patient safety and population health outcomes.
Twitter hashtag
#globalsurgery