A third of all deaths in 2010 (16.9 million) were from
conditions which were treatable with surgery. That was more than the number of
deaths from HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria combined.
Two-thirds of the world's population have no access to safe
and affordable surgery, according to a new study in The Lancet - more than
double the number in previous estimates. It means millions of people are dying
from treatable conditions such as appendicitis and obstructed labour. Most live
in low and middle-income countries.
93% of people in sub-Saharan Africa cannot obtain basic
surgical care. Previous estimates have only looked at whether surgery was
available. This research considered whether people can travel to facilities
within two hours, whether the procedure will be safe, and whether patients can
actually afford the treatment.
One of the study's authors, Andy Leather, director of the
King's Centre for Global Health, said the situation was outrageous. "People
are dying and living with disabilities that could be avoided if they had good
surgical treatment," he said.
"Also, more and more people are being pushed into
poverty trying to access surgical care."
The study suggests a quarter of people who have an operation
cannot in fact afford it.
Numbers of trained surgical specialists per 100,000 people
UK: 35
US: 36
Brazil 35
Japan 17
South Africa: 7
Bangladesh 1.7
Sierra Leone (before Ebola): 0.1
"Unfortunately a lot of people have given up on the
hospitals because they can't find surgeons there," said Dr Duffy, consultant
obstetrician and gynaecologist who has recently returned from a surgical
training camp in central Uganda. "People are living in the community with
debilitating conditions and they just can't find the skilled people to help
them."
313 million operations are carried out worldwide each year. Just
one in 20 operations occur in the poorest countries, where over a third of the
world's population lives. There is a global shortfall of at least 143 million
surgical procedures every year.
1 comment:
its so difficult for everyone to have surgery
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