Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

No abstract

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

No abstract

No abstract

There is a lack of vital human resources and infrastructure to provide adequate, safe surgery at many of the government hospitals in Uganda. A large number of surgical procedures are undertaken despite these austere conditions. Many areas that need policy development and international collaboration are evident. Surgical services need to become a greater priority in health care provision in Uganda as they could promise a significant reduction in morbidity and mortality.

Background In 2015, six indicators were proposed to evaluate global progress towards access to safe, affordable and timely surgical and anaesthesia care. Although some have been adopted as core global health indicators, none has been evaluated systematically. The aims of this study were to assess the availability, comparability and utility of the indicators, and to present available data and updated estimates. Methods Nationally representative data were compiled for all World Health Organization (WHO) member states from 2010 to 2016 through contacts with official bodies and review of the published and grey literature, and available databases. Availability, comparability and utility were assessed for each indicator: access to timely essential surgery, specialist surgical workforce density, surgical volume, perioperative mortality, and protection against impoverishing and catastrophic expenditure. Where feasible, imputation models were developed to generate global estimates. Results Of all WHO member states, 19 had data on the proportion of the population within 2h of a surgical facility, 154 had data on workforce density, 72 reported number of procedures, and nine had perioperative mortality data, but none could report data on catastrophic or impoverishing expenditure. Comparability and utility were variable, and largely dependent on different definitions used. There were sufficient data to estimate that worldwide, in 2015, there were 2 038 947 (i.q.r. 1 884 916–2 281 776) surgeons, obstetricians and anaesthetists, and 266·1 (95 per cent c.i. 220·1 to 344·4) million operations performed. Conclusion Surgical and anaesthesia indicators are increasingly being adopted by the global health community, but data availability remains low. Comparability and utility for all indicators require further resolution.

IntroductionThe shelter-in-place order for Santa Clara County, California on 16 March was the first of its kind in the USA. It was unknown what impact this order would have on trauma activations.MethodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of institutional trauma registries among the two American College of Surgeons Level 1 trauma centers serving Santa Clara County, California. Trauma activation volumes at the trauma centers from January to March 2020 were compared with month-matched historical cohorts from 2018 to 2019.ResultsOnly 81 (3%) patients were trauma activations at the trauma centers in the 15 days after the shelter-in-place order went into effect on 16 March 2020, compared with 389 activations during the same time period in 2018 and 2019 (p<0.0001). There were no other statistically significant changes to the epidemiology of trauma activations. Only one trauma activation had a positive COVID-19 test.DiscussionOverall trauma activations decreased 4.8-fold after the shelter-in-place order went into effect in Santa Clara County on 16 March 2020, with no other effect on the epidemiology of persons presenting after traumatic injury.ConclusionShelter-in-place orders may reduce strain on healthcare systems by diminishing hospital admissions from trauma, in addition to reducing virus transmission.