Lessons from developing, implementing and sustaining a participatory partnership for children's surgical care in
Godfrey Sama Philipo1, Shobhana Nagraj2, Zaitun M Bokhary3
1Biostatistcs and Epidemiology, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania.
Insights
Developing sustainable global children's surgery partnerships in low-income countries requires participatory methods. This approach ensures local needs and resources are central to improving surgical care access for children.
Area of Science:
- Global Health
- Pediatric Surgery
- Health Systems Strengthening
Background:
- Surgical conditions represent a significant global disease burden, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
- Children in LMICs often face limited access to essential pediatric surgical care due to workforce and infrastructure deficits.
- International collaborations in global surgery aim to bridge these gaps but can face challenges to long-term success.
Purpose of the Study:
- To share experiences in developing, implementing, and sustaining a long-term global children's surgery partnership in Tanzania.
- To highlight the value of participatory methods in fostering effective international surgical collaborations.
Main Methods:
- A 17-yearlong partnership in global children's surgery was established in Tanzania.
- Participatory methods were employed to ensure a non-hierarchical approach and contextual understanding.
- Solutions were co-designed considering local needs, resources, hospital capacity, and budget constraints.
Main Results:
- The participatory approach facilitated the development, implementation, and sustainability of the 17-year partnership.
- This method fostered a deeper understanding of the local context, needs, and resource availability.
- Co-designing solutions ensured relevance and feasibility within the existing healthcare system.
Conclusions:
- Participatory approaches are feasible and highly valuable for establishing and sustaining global partnerships in pediatric surgery in LMICs.
- These methods promote equitable collaboration and lead to more effective and sustainable improvements in children's surgical care.
Abstract:
Global surgery is an essential component of Universal Health Coverage. Surgical conditions account for almost one-third of the global burden of disease, with the majority of patients living in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Children account for more than half of the global population; however, in many LMIC settings they have poor access to surgical care due to a lack of workforce and health system infrastructure to match the need for children's surgery. Surgical providers from high-income countries volunteer to visit LMICs and partner with the local providers to deliver surgical care and trainings to improve outcomes. However, some of these altruistic efforts fail. We aim to share our experience on developing, implementing and sustaining a partnership in global children's surgery in Tanzania. The use of participatory methods facilitated a successful 17-yearlong partnership, ensured a non-hierarchical environment and encouraged an understanding of the context, local needs, available resources and hospital capacity, including budget constraints, when codesigning solutions. We believe that participatory approaches are feasible and valuable in developing, implementing and sustaining global partnerships for children's surgery in LMICs.
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