Use of Surgical Resources Internationally
In international public health planning, particularly for developing countries, surgical care receives relatively little attention. Many assume that the technology and skills required are simply beyond the capacity of non-industrialized countries, that spending limited resources on surgical care would be cost-ineffective. And it is true that, as delivered here in the United States, surgical care would be. However, there are potentially several important domains of surgical care in which highly cost-effective, life-saving treatment is possible-cesarean section for mothers with obstructed labor, mastectomies for breast cancer, amputations for gangrene, emergent hernia repairs, basic trauma care. Developing countries remain without a coherent conception or plan for how such patients should be cared for. Through research, we would provide an improved understanding of how surgical resources are currently used internationally and what policy ought to be for the rational introduction and utilization of this form of care.
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