( MENAFN - African Press Organization) The imperative need for collaboration to tackle critical gaps in surgical care and education around the globe gained fresh recognition at a high-level panel discussion during the 77th World health Assembly (WHA). This side event on May 30th highlighted the synergies between surgeons, policy makers, NGOs, academia and the private sector. The WHA's main theme for the 77th assembly was 'All for Health, Health for All'.
International charity Mercy Ships and fellow NGO, Operation Smile, partnered to organize a side event during the WHA in Geneva, Switzerland. The event, titled "Amplifying Synergies Between NGOs, Multilaterals, and Academia to benefit Surgical Patients," took place on May 30th at the Hotel Beau-Rivage. The side event panel discussion, which included speakers from universities and teaching hospitals from Zambia, Rwanda, South Africa and Peru, discussed how over 100 million additional surgical procedures are needed in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) each year to save lives and prevent disability.
Mercy Ships' International Chief Medical Officer Dr Mark Shrime started the panel discussion by explaining that it was incumbent on people within NGOs, multilaterals and academia to break down the walls between them for the sake of the neglected surgical patients around the globe. Dr. Wieslawa de Pawlikowski, a pediatric reconstructive microsurgeon and Director of International Cooperation Ministry of Health Lima, Peru said:“.
