Abstract
Background
Three decades of internal conflict in the North and East of Sri Lanka have taken a toll on the health care system in that area.
Methods
We proposed to quantify the current status of capacity to deliver emergency, anesthesia, and surgical interventions in the conflict affected areas of Sri Lanka. The World Health Organization (WHO) Tool for Situational Analysis to Assess Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (EESC) was used to evaluate 47 health facilities.
Results
Although most have trained health care providers capable of basic procedures, infrastructure and supplies were severely lacking.
Conclusion
These data can be used as a basis for the recovery and rebuilding of EESC capacity in conflict-affected areas of Sri Lanka.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Farmer PE, Kim JY (2008) Surgery and global health: a view from beyond the OR. World J Surg 32:533–536
Debas H, Gosselin R, McCord C, et al (2006) Surgery. In: Disease control priorities in developing countries. Oxford University Press, Washington, DC, pp 1245–1259
Taira BR, Kelly McQueen KA, Burkle FM Jr (2009) Burden of surgical disease: does the literature reflect the scope of the international crisis? World J Surg 33:893–898
Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (2009) Accessed 27 April 2009 at http://www.who.int/surgery/globalinitiative/en/
Liljestrand J, Pathmanathan I (2004) Reducing maternal mortality: can we derive policy guidance from developing country experiences? J Public Health Policy 25:299–314
Nagai M, Abraham S, Okamoto M et al (2007) Reconstruction of health service systems in the post-conflict Northern Province in Sri Lanka. Health Policy 83:84–93
Lau YS (2006) An insight into burns in a developing country: a Sri Lankan experience. Public Health 120:958–965
Kingham TP, Kamara TB, Cherian MN et al (2009) Quantifying surgical capacity in Sierra Leone: a guide for improving surgical care. Arch Surg 144:122–127 (discussion 128)
Data Profile Sri Lanka (2009) Accessed 1 June 2009 at http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org
Reilley B, Simpson I, Ford N et al (2002) Conflict in Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka’s health service is a casualty of 20 years of war. BMJ 324:361
MacDonald M (2009) Sri Lanka says leader of rebels has died. New York Times, May 18
Anonymous (2009) Situation report: humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka. http://www.humanitarianinfo.org
Jayasekara R, Schultz T (2007) Health status, trends, and issues in Sri Lanka. Nurs Health Sci 2007:228–233
Anonymous (2006) Annual Health Statistics 2006. Accessed 1 June 2009 at http://www.health.gov.lk/AnnualHealthBulletin.htm
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Taira, B.R., Cherian, M.N., Yakandawala, H. et al. Survey of Emergency and Surgical Capacity in the Conflict-Affected Regions of Sri Lanka. World J Surg 34, 428–432 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-009-0254-5
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-009-0254-5