๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ & ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐๐๐๐ฒ
โข Across the world today, approximately ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ each year are unable to receive essential surgery when needed.
โข Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bear the biggest burden: only ๐๐% ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฌ are on track to ensure everyone can access essential surgical care within two hours, and none have yet met the Lancet Commission benchmark of ๐,๐๐๐ procedures per ๐๐๐,๐๐๐ people per year.
๐๐ก๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ฌโฆ
๐๐ฝ For every person who receives safe surgical care, there are dozens who still canโt.
๐๐ฝ In some communities, a simple emergency surgery like a C-section or an appendectomy is still a matter of luck rather than a guarantee.
๐๐ฝ People are still dying โ not because their diseases are incurable, but because surgical care is simply out of reach.
โ๏ธ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ๐ฌ
Recent reviews of LMIC surgical volumes show an average of ~877 surgical procedures per 100,000 people per year, far short of the 5,000 target.
๐๐ซ๐จ๐ค๐๐ง ๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฒ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ฉ๐:
โข Cesarean sections: ~30.1%
โข Hernia repairs: ~16.4%
โข Laparotomies: ~5.1%
The workforce gap remains staggering.
Many LMICs have fewer than 1โ3 physician anesthesia providers per 100,000 people, compared to much higher ratios in high-income countries.
But the shortage goes beyond doctors.
In some LMICs, there are fewer than 10 nurses per 10,000 people, and vacant perioperative nursing positions have climbed from about 3% a decade ago to nearly 18% in recent years.
Operating theatres in many hospitals now run under โmoderate to crisisโ staffing levels โ putting additional strain on patient safety and surgical outcomes.
๐ก ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง
These arenโt just statistics โ they represent millions of lives denied safe, timely care.
To change the story, we must:
โ
Strengthen and support the surgical & anesthesia workforce in LMICs.
โ
Scale up infrastructure and essential monitoring tools.
โ
Integrate surgical systems into national health policies and Universal Health Coverage.
The recent โSurgical Health Policy 2025โ2035โ report warns that global progress is dangerously off track. Urgent, unified action is needed.
โจ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ
At The Operating Room Global (TORG), we believe that safe surgery must no longer be a privilege but a fundamental health right.
If we ignore these gaps, millions will continue to suffer needlessly.
But if we act now, we can shift the curve and rewrite the global story of surgical care.
Itโs time to make safe anesthesia and surgery accessible to everyone, everywhere. ๐โ๐ฝ
๐ ๐๐จ๐ข๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ!
The Operating Room Global (TORG)
๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐ก๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐!
Learn More: ๐ https://linktr.ee/operatingroomissues
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