This latest work is part of an ongoing effort to improve surgical care in sub-Saharan Africa, where 93 percent of the population lacks access to safe, effective, and timely surgical, obstetric, and anesthesia care.
That puts the region at the epicenter of a global crisis that leaves 5 billion people without the lifesaving surgical care needed to treat injuries and disease, according to the 2015 Lancet Commission on Global Surgery.
Studies find high levels of excess morbidity and mortality resulting from poor surgical quality in African countries, where patients are twice as likely to die after surgery compared with the global average, despite being younger, having a lower surgical risk profile, and undergoing less complex surgical procedures.