Globalization of national surgical, obstetric and anesthesia plans: the critical link between health policy and action in global surgery

TLDR

Efforts to improve surgical, anesthesia, and obstetric care in low‑ and middle‑income countries have shifted from volunteer mission trips to sustainable health‑system strengthening, driven by recognition of the large health and financial burden of surgical disease and the need for global partnerships to achieve universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals. The National Surgical, Obstetric and Anesthesia Plan (NSOAP) was created as a national policy strategy to reduce the burden of surgically treatable diseases. The NSOAP is implemented through collaboration among multiple stakeholders and is not developed in isolation.

Abstract

Abstract Efforts from the developed world to improve surgical, anesthesia and obstetric care in low- and middle-income countries have evolved from a primarily volunteer mission trip model to a sustainable health system strengthening approach as private and public stakeholders recognize the enormous health toll and financial burden of surgical disease. The National Surgical, Obstetric and Anesthesia Plan (NSOAP) has been developed as a policy strategy for countries to address, in part, the health burden of diseases amenable to surgical care, but these plans have not developed in isolation. The NSOAP has become a phenomenon of globalization as a broad range of partners – individuals and institutions – help in both NSOAP formulation, implementation and financing. As the nexus between policy and action in the field of global surgery, the NSOAP reflects a special commitment by state actors to make progress on global goals such as Universal Health Coverage and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This requires a continued global commitment involving genuine partnerships that embrace the collective strengths of both national and global actors to deliver sustained, safe and affordable high-quality surgical care for all poor, rural and marginalized people.