Specialist Colleges endorse the WHO Global Plan of Action on
Interpersonal Violence
Following discussions with the RACS Trauma and Global Health
Committees, RACS, in conjunction with ANZCA, ASA, RANZCOG, RANZCO
and RACP issued a joint letter to
the Chief Medical Officer of the Australian Government expressing
support for the WHO global plan of action on interpersonal
violence.
A Resolution on interpersonal violence will be considered at the
69th World Health Assembly in May 2016.
The Colleges support the WHO global plan of action to strengthen
the role of the health system in addressing violence, in particular
against women and girls, and against children. The Colleges support all evidence-based
initiatives that assist in the prevention of trauma and the
reduction of the devastating effects of injury.
Read the proposed Resolution on the WHO website.
View the Colleges' joint letter
to the CMO, Australian Government.
Surgical and Anaesthesia bodies endorse the Bangkok Global
Surgery Declaration
The Bangkok Global
Surgery Declaration was developed during the World Congress of
Surgery in August 2015. 65 organisations including RACS
have endorsed the Declaration to date.
The Declaration is a call to the global health community to
promote the implementation of the World Health Assembly Resolution
for Surgery and Anaesthesia Care. It promotes global collaboration
among all countries and regions to work towards implementation
solutions for ensuring "universal access to safe, affordable
surgical and anaesthesia care when needed."
If your organisation wishes to become a signatory to the
Declaration, please send a statement of endorsement and your
organisation's logo to: global.health@surgeons.org
Surgical Colleges Support the Lancet Commission on Global
Surgery
At a President's Forum on 06 May 2015 at the RACS ASC
in Perth, 12 Surgical Colleges and Societies committed to support
the strengthening of universal access to emergency and essential
surgical care and released a joint statement promoting this
message. Eleven more colleges subsequently endorsed the
statement and unanimously agreed to promote its
messages. The joint statement is available on
the College
news page or you can
download a PDF version (PDF 2MB).
Management of Wounds in Disaster Situations
Download the free
poster (PDF 1.6MB)
Download the
free full text World Journal of Surgery article (PDF
1.6MB)
The College developed a set of guidelines to help first
responders and health care personnel with the initial management of
wounds to prevent infection and further tissue loss. It highlights
the risk of contamination and sets out a step-by-step guide to
safely manage wounds.
The guidelines are in the form of an illustrated poster, which
is available as a free resource for health care workers globally.
It is specifically directed at doctors in isolated healthcare
environments.
The development of the poster was a result of a study
on wound management in disaster settings, conducted by
Wuthisuthimethawee P., et al and presented at the Wound Management
Conensus Meeting during the Global Burden of
Surgical Disease Symposium, held at the College in September
2012.
The results of the study are presented in the article,
'Wound Management in Disaster Settings'. Access the free
full text article.
Download
a free copy of the poster (PDF 1.6MB)
Emergency and Essential Surgery as a vital component of
Universal Health Coverage
The College is collaborating with international surgical bodies
and advocacy groups to promote surgical care and anaesthesia to the
World Health Assembly (WHA) as part of a primary health care
package, integral to achieving universal health coverage.
The Issue
Surgically treatable diseases and injuries are among the top 15
causes of disability. Yet five billion of the world's population do
not have access to emergency and essential surgical care, and the
poorest third of the world's population receives only 3.5% of all
surgical operations. Safe surgery and anaesthesia are vital to
effectively treat much of the global burden of non-communicable
diseases and injuries and contribute to the provision of safe
child-birth where complications arise.
The major barriers to the delivery of essential surgical
services in many low and middle income countries are the perception
that surgery is unaffordable and too complicated to include in
public health strategies, a lack of global or national policies
promoting safe surgery and anaesthesia and a lack of
infrastructure. Treatment of most surgical conditions does not
require complex surgical skills or equipment. With access to
appropriately trained health professionals, safe surgery and
anaesthesia can be delivered cost-effectively in low and middle
income countries.
Achievements
A Resolution on "Strengthening Emergency and Essential Surgical
Care and Anaesthesia as a Component of Universal Health Coverage"
was passed unanimously by 194 member nations at the 68th WHA in May
2015.This resolution was critical because Ministers of Health are
guided by the recommendations of the WHO when implementing
healthcare decisions for their country. But it will require
significant and sustained political commitment and substantial
investment of resources by individual countries, to put policy into
practice and improve surgical care at the country and regional
level.
Other recent milestones include the adoption of
the Perioperative Mortality Rate (POMR) in the WHO Global Reference
List of 100 Core Health Indicators which will serve as a measure of
safety and access, and the inclusion of a volume on Essential
Surgery in the next edition of the World Bank's Disease Control
Priorities, due for release in 2015. World Health Assembly (WHA) in
May 2015.
Worldwide adoption and reporting of the Perioperative Mortality
Rate (POMR) as an indicator for measuring safety of, and access to
surgical care
The College urges health ministries to adopt the POMR, a WHO
standardised metric for global surgical surveillance. Perioperative
mortality reporting serves as a measure of the safety of and access
to surgical care worldwide.
Read More:
Perioperative Mortality Rate (POMR): A Global
Indicator of Access to Safe Surgery and Anaesthesia (World J
Surg Article, via PubMed website)
Get Involved
Fellows and trainees interested in Global Surgery are invited to
join ASAP - the Alliance for Surgery and Anaesthesia Presence (an
integrated society of the International Society of Surgery). Visit
the ASAP website (www.asaptoday.org) or contact
Professor David Watters or Professor Russell Gruen at iss.aust@surgeons.org
Contact
RACS Global Health
Telephone: +61 3 9249 1211
Email: global.health@surgeons.org