Pediatric surgical capacity in Africa: Current status and future needs

Toobaie, Asra; Emil, Sherif; Ozgediz, Doruk; Krishnaswami, Sanjay; Poenaru, Dan

doi:10.1016/j.jpedsurg.2017.01.033

Cited by 53 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 30 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Other authors have reported series with patients well outside of infancy and sometimes in adolescence (9, 12, 55). Furthermore, when patients present early enough for treatment, there are tertiary level delays in intervention and the median time to emergency surgery may be as high as seven days as reported in a study that reviewed the pediatric surgical capacity in Africa (56). This delay is as a result of inadequate systemic support for pediatric surgical services, which often requires a multidisciplinary form of care and is human capita intensive (56, 57).…”

Section: Presentation Outside the Neonatal Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of Anorectal Malformations in Africa

Lawal

2019

Front. Surg.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anorectal malformation is one of the most common structural congenital malformations treated by pediatric surgeons globally. The outcome of care is largely dependent on the spectrum, clinical features, associated malformations, expertise of the surgeons, and available perioperative facilities. Africa has a large burden of unmet surgical needs in children, and as in other low resource settings, local pediatric surgeons are faced with different and challenging clinical scenarios, hence, adopt various measures to enable children with surgically correctable congenital malformations to survive. There are increasing collaborations between local surgeons and experts in other continents, which often involves surgeons traveling to Africa on missions or well-structured partnerships. It is highly beneficial for the physician who is interested in global-surgery to understand the terrain in low resource settings and prepare for possible changes in management plan. This review highlights the epidemiology, clinical presentation, treatment, and outcome of care of children with anorectal malformations in Africa and provides options adopted by pediatric surgeons working with limited resources.

show abstract

Section: Presentation Outside the Neonatal Periodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview of Anorectal Malformations in Africa

Lawal

2019

Front. Surg.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…A report published in 2017 estimated that one general surgeon and 0.26 pediatric surgeons per million persons were available on the continent. 35 …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pediatric Oncology Clinical Trials and Collaborative Research in Africa: Current Landscape and Future Perspectives

Heerden

Zaghloul

Neven

et al. 2020

JCO Global Oncology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PURPOSE Adequate clinical services have yet to be established in the majority of African countries, where childhood cancer survival rates vary from 8.1% to 30.3%. The aim of this review is to describe the landscape of pediatric oncology trials in Africa, identify challenges, and offer future opportunities for research collaborations. METHODS The study includes data from the International Pediatric Oncology Society (SIOP) global mapping survey, meta-research identifying trials in Africa in ClinicalTrials.gov, and a literature overview of publications on the subject of pediatric oncology clinical research supported by expert opinions on the current situation and challenges. RESULTS The SIOP global mapping survey received responses from 47 of 54 African countries, of which 23 have active clinical research programs. A preliminary search of ClinicalTrials.gov showed that only 105 (12.1%) of 868 African oncology studies included children and adolescents. Of these, 53 (50.5%) were interventional trials according to the registry’s classification. The small number of African trials for children and adolescents included palliative care and leukemia trials. In African oncology journals and international pediatric oncology journals, < 1% of the pediatric oncology publications come from Africa. Services and research were strengthened by international collaboration. National studies focused on clinical needs, local challenges, or interventional priorities. Both the literature review and the expert opinions highlight the need to expand clinical research in Africa, despite ongoing regional instability and lack of resources. CONCLUSION While a low number of pediatric clinical treatment trials are open to African children and adolescents, clinical research of high quality is being done in Africa. Several initiatives are stimulating the development of the research capacity across the continent, which should increase the publication output.

show abstract

“…Some years ago, the WHO estimated that the world faced a global shortage of almost 4.3 million doctors, midwives, nurses, and other health-care professionals ( 25 ). There are particular shortages in the area of surgery [including pediatric surgery ( 26 , 27 )] and anesthesia ( 28 ) and rehabilitation personnel ( 29 ) in poorer countries. The availability of these health-care workers (particularly to patients who cannot afford private health care) may be profoundly affected by the different remuneration patterns and the fact that many health-care workers have to work in several sectors in order to obtain an adequate income ( 30 ).…”

Section: Resources For Health Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Considerations for Assessing the Appropriateness of High-Cost Pediatric Care in Low-Income Regions

Argent

2018

Front. Pediatr.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It may be difficult to predict the consequences of provision of high-cost pediatric care (HCC) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and these consequences may be different to those experienced in high-income countries. An evaluation of the implications of HCC in LMICs must incorporate considerations of the specific context in that country (population age profile, profile of disease, resources available), likely costs of the HCC, likely benefits that can be gained versus the costs that will be incurred. Ideally, the process that is followed in decision making around HCC should be transparent and should involve the communities that will be most affected by those decisions. It is essential that the impacts of provision of HCC are carefully monitored so that informed decisions can be made about future provision medical interventions.

show abstract

Pediatric surgical capacity in Africa: Current status and future needs

Cited by 53 publications

References 30 publications

Overview of Anorectal Malformations in Africa

Overview of Anorectal Malformations in Africa

Pediatric Oncology Clinical Trials and Collaborative Research in Africa: Current Landscape and Future Perspectives

Considerations for Assessing the Appropriateness of High-Cost Pediatric Care in Low-Income Regions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About