The burden of pediatric surgical disease in low-resource settings: Discovering it, measuring it, and addressing it
1Montreal Children's Hospital, Montréal, QC, Canada.
Insights
Global pediatric surgery is an emerging field addressing the worldwide burden of surgical conditions in children. This review details the challenges, current efforts, and future directions for this critical area of global health.
Area of Science:
- Global health
- Pediatric surgery
- Health equity
Background:
- Global surgery is an established discipline, yet global pediatric surgery remains underdeveloped.
- Significant burden of pediatric surgical disease exists globally, particularly in resource-limited settings.
- Personal journey from recognizing to addressing the burden of pediatric surgical disease.
Conclusions:
- Global pediatric surgery requires focused attention and action to address the worldwide burden of disease.
- The field is poised for growth, necessitating continued research, collaboration, and resource allocation.
- Addressing disparities in pediatric surgical care is crucial for global health equity.
Abstract:
Global surgery has come of age as an emerging discipline poised to impact health care worldwide with a concerted plan of action and wide stakeholder support. Much less can be said about global pediatric surgery, despite a growing awareness of the global burden of pediatric surgical disease. The author describes his exposure to this burden of disease as a pediatric surgeon working in resource-limited countries in Africa and outlines his personal journey from recognizing the burden to measuring it and eventually attempting to address it. The article, based on the Hugh Greenwood International Lecture at the 2015 BAPS Congress, reviews what is known so far within global pediatric surgery, what is currently happening, and what lies ahead.
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