July 20, 2015

Approximately 5 billion out of 7 billion people in the world have no or little access to basic surgical care. Out of the roughly 250 million operations performed each year, only 3.5% are performed on the poorest 1/3 of the world’s population. Injuries alone cause 5.7 million deaths yearly, much more than the 3.8 million deaths caused by malaria, HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis combined.
Many of these fatal injuries could have been treated by basic surgery, if it were available. Although international priorities are starting to reflect the importance of non-communicable diseases and injury, investment in essential surgical services lags far behind other healthcare priorities.

This webinar described the magnitude of the global surgical deficit and what needs to be done to address it, and shared opportunities for participants to help tackle this challenge.

Moderator:
Keith Martin MD
Executive Director, CUGH
Dr. Keith Martin is the Executive Director of the Consortium of Universities for Global Health. Dr. Martin was a 6-term Canadian MP who championed global solutions to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks and humanitarian disasters.

Speakers:

Fizan Abdullah, MD, PhD
Associate Professor, Pediatric Surgery and International Health, Johns Hopkins University
Chair,Global Surgery Initiative, Johns Hopkins University
Chair, Executive Committee, Interim Board of Directors, The G4 Alliance (Global Alliance for Surgical,Obstetric, Trauma and Anaesthesia Care)
Dr. Abdullah’s expertise is in surgery for infants and children with congenital anomalies as well as advanced laparoscopy. His research interest relates to lung development, tissue engineering, outcomes research, extracorporeal life support, and global surgical education.

Girma Tefera, MD, FACS
Professor of Surgery
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Vice Chair Division of Vascular Surgery, Chief of Vascular at W.S Middleton VA hospital
Medical Director Operation Giving Back, American College of Surgeons
Dr. Tefera is a vascular surgeon at University of Wisconsin-Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. Tefera joined the American College of Surgeons Division of Member Services as the new Medical Director of the Operation Giving Back Program in February 2015. His clinical research interests include abdominal aortic aneurysm treatment with endovascular stent graft and other complex aneurysmal diseases of the thoracic and abdominal aorta. He is currently the principal investigator of 7 clinical trials focusing on vascular diseases. Dr. Tefera is the lead physician in the development of our newly open hybrid operating room where integration and fusion of different imaging modalities is applied. Additionally, Dr. Tefera leads DHHS-funded international efforts to design health care system and education in Ethiopia. He leads the the University of Wisconsin efforts in the development of Emergency medical services in Ethiopia. He is also in the process of establishing vascular and endovascular surgery services in Ethiopia. As a US partner with Addis Ababa University (MEPI grant), Dr. Tefera has assisted with the introduction of mentoring and basic as well as advanced clinical research programs. He is a devoted mentor to medical students, residents and vascular fellows.