From Global Health Now. Read online: https://globalhealthnow.org/2026-08/ensuring-access-safe-surgical-care-a...
Children’s surgery is a massive, neglected global health problem, with ~1.75 billion children lacking access to safe surgical care––87% of them in LMICs.
Surgical disease accounts for 30% of the global disease burden.
Africa has as few as 0.26 pediatric surgeons per million people.
Poor equipment and referral systems and long travel distances cause delays and financial hardship.
In response, the Global Initiative for Children's Surgery—a 1,500+ member, 60+ country consortium spanning surgery, anesthesia, pediatrics, critical care, and nursing––is rallying to advance children’s surgical care by sharing resources and building momentum on several fronts...
==
CHIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org