Centre for Equity in Global Surgery (CEGS)
November 25, 2024 2025-05-14 11:01Centre for Equity in Global Surgery (CEGS)
Centre for Equity (CEGS) in Global Surgery
Driving Change in Surgical Healthcare
e are addressing challenges in access to surgical healthcare by formulating strategies to overcome them through advocacy, education and training, research and innovation, fellowship, and global convening.
Quick Facts
- It has been estimated that 5 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe, affordable surgical care including 93% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- 143 million additional surgical procedures are needed in Low- and Middle- income countries each year to save lives and prevent disability.
- Sub-Saharan Africa represents 27% of the global disease burden but houses only 1-2% of surgeons.
We aim for a world where everyone can get safe, quality surgical care when they need it, through an approach that is fair, caring, and focused on the community.
Our Approach
Education and Training
Designing and implementing surgical education and skills in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). These efforts develop competency-based curricula to train researchers, implementers, policymakers, and advocates, while equipping medical students with practical skills in surgery, anesthesia, and critical care to improve regional healthcare access.
Research and Innovation
Our research efforts are centered on conducting implementation research that addresses questions driven by local contexts and needs. We are committed to supporting the development of research expertise and infrastructure across Africa, ensuring that research is informed and led by those physically present in the studied countries.
Policy and Advocacy
We engage in policy and advocacy initiatives aimed at enhancing surgical care delivery across the African region. Key initiatives include the Pan-African Surgical Healthcare Forum, which seeks to mobilize African countries to adopt National Surgical Healthcare Plans/Policies to strengthen their surgical systems.
Global Convenings
Organizes global convenings to unite experts across Africa in addressing key issues in global surgery. A key initiative is the Pan-African Surgical Healthcare Forum (PASHeF), launched in July 2023. This forum brought together stakeholders, including policymakers and clinicians, to tackle challenges in accessing safe, affordable, timely, and quality surgical care in Africa.
Fellowship
Fellowship
CEGS serves as a fellowship site in collaboration with renowned global surgery programs worldwide. We support trainees from both high- and low-income countries, ensuring they can engage effectively and equitably in their training.
Impact
- By 2027, we will have 75 graduates from the MGHD global surgery track, and 336 students enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery program.
- Each medical graduate will be able to perform ~250 surgeries per year, adding up to 112,500 surgeries within 5 years of the first class graduating.
- Medical education quality will be improved, surgical skills strengthened, and the number of surgeons and fellows will increase. Therefore, access to safe, affordable high quality surgical care will increase
- A robust peer-reviewed research base will be built to guide safe surgical practice, well-designed health care systems, and effective public policy
- Dismantling barriers to surgical care through inclusivity- Addressing discriminatory academic, financial, and socio-cultural barriers facing women, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and those of low socioeconomic status
- Promoting a multidisciplinary, trans-sectoral approach to surgical training- Not only traditional Surgery, Anesthesia, and Obstetrics specialists, but also non-physician surgical providers, including perioperative nurses, midwives, biomechanical engineers, and support staff.
- Championing the Co-location of both virtual and in-person regional training hubs- Regionalization and co-location of multidisciplinary training institutions and subspecialty programs in shared centres, enriched through partnerships.
Research
- NIHR Global Health Research Group on Physical Trauma from Injury & POsT Conflict; iPrOTeCT.
- NIHR Global Health Group on Equitable Access to Quality Health Care for Injured People in Four Lower Middle-Income Countries: Equi-injury
- Rwanda 912 working to introduce the use of an innovative electronic communications platform to improve pre-hospital transport of injured people in Rwanda.
- Cardiothoracic Surgery Training in East Central and Southern Africa
- Burera Burden of Surgical Disease Assessments.
Global Surgery MGHD student's CEGS-based Research
Assessing a Partnership-based Model of Surgical Education at University of Global Health Equity
Exploring the factors influencing delays in cleft surgeries among the children with cleft deformities in Rwanda: A qualitative study
Analyzing access to surgical services in Central Equatoria State, South Sudan: A baseline cross-sectional assessment to inform National Surgical Policy and Planning
Baseline Assessment Of Biomedical Equipment Availability, Functionality, And Management Practice of District Hospitals in Rwanda: A Cross-sectional Survey
A Time Motion Analysis of Operating Rooms for Elective Surgeries at Butaro District Hospital
Become a Partner
Contact Us
Send an email to us at cegs@ughe.org
and Include contact details for inquiries and/or collaboration opportunities
