The NIHR Global Surgery Unit reports that each year 4.2 million people around the world die within 30 days of an operation, and half of these deaths occur in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The report says “if we could make surgery safe and affordable, 28% of the disease burden in low- and mid-income countries may be cured, treated or palliated by safe, accessible surgery”.

The NIHR Global Surgery Unit emphasizes that during the pandemic, the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery based at Birmingham rapidly created new guidelines for controlling COVID-19 infection, which avoided operations having to be put on hold altogether.

Since then, the HIHR team have been working to reduce infection after surgery from all diseases, not just COVID-19, and to improve access to routine surgery, especially in rural areas.

The Dean of the University for Development Studies (UDS) School of Medicine, Professor Stephen Tabiri is one the co-directors of the Unit.

The University Relations Office reproduces the thoughts Prof. Tabiri shared with the researchers.

“We have several pieces of research underway to test methods for improving outcomes from surgery, including implementing telephone follow-up, so that patients are not put off getting care by the difficulties and costs of travelling to hospitals Design note: can add REF research tag to this section for post-surgery check-ups. Early findings indicate that there is greater uptake and engagement, resulting in better outcomes for patients.’ ‘Where I work In Ghana, this could make a huge difference. Three-quarters of people in the northern regions of Ghana are in scattered rural communities, with poor health infrastructure and not enough health professionals. ‘The Unit’s next set of research trials is investigating how to reduce complications from wound infection, improve outcomes from cancer surgery and to evaluate access to healthcare for patients requiring surgery. ‘The Unit’s focus is on capacity building and strengthening infrastructure within LMICs, so that long-term effective surgical options and care are available without reliance on outside intervention. We are shifting ownership of global surgery research to in-country surgeons, with UK collaborators rather than UK leaders. We envisage that enabling locally placed surgical teams to advocate and implement best surgical practice in their clinics and hospitals will save patients from catastrophic healthcare expenditures and save lives”