Survey of Surgery and Anesthesia Infrastructure in Ethiopia

Abstract

This survey of Ethiopia's hospital resources attempts to identify specific areas of need where resources, education, and development can be targeted. Because the major surgical mortality comes from late presentations, increasing accessibility through infrastructure development would likely provide a major improvement in surgical morbidity and mortality rates. Infrastructure limitations of electricity, water, oxygen, and blood banking do not prove to be significant barriers to surgical care. The increasing number of physicians is promising, although efforts should be directed specifically toward increasing the number of anesthesiologists and surgeons in the country.

Moving from Data Collection to Application: A Systematic Literature Review of Surgical Capacity Assessments and their Applications

“…Generally concurred with findings from previous study, however, found higher reported access to water and electricity, and noted larger variability between urban and rural areas [1,13]. Such resource limitations amplify the burden presented by acute surgical conditions, as found in the capacity assessment performed in Ethiopia [13].…”

Identifying Gaps in the Surgical Training Curriculum in Rwanda Through Evaluation of Operative Activity at a Teaching Hospital

“…Trauma accounted for most of the orthopedic and half of neurosurgical operations. 1,14,16,[19][20][21] Emergency procedures provide important training for working at district and referral hospitals. Eventually, many of these emergency procedures could be performed at the district level, allowing the referral hospitals to focus on more specialized elective care.…”

Building a Global Surgery Initiative Through Evaluation, Collaboration, and Training: The Massachusetts General Hospital Experience

“…[27][28][29][30][31][32][33] However, much of this work was conducted independently and is not well documented, leaving the larger surgical community unaware of prior work, fundraising efforts, and actual effect. To develop a cohesive and effective academic GSI, the first step was to inventory the collective experiences and gauge the interest level of the department's faculty, fellows, and residents.…”