Abstract
Addressing global health disparities in the developing world gained prominence during the first decade of the twenty-first century. The HIV/AIDS epidemic triggered much interest in and funding for health improvement and mortality reduction in low- and middle-income nations, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Alliances between U.S. academic medical centers and African nations were created through the departments of internal medicine and infectious disease. However, the importance of addressing surgical disease as part of global public health is becoming recognized as part of international health development efforts. We propose a novel model to reduce the global burden of surgical diseases in resource poor settings by incorporating a sustained institutional surgical presence with our residency training experience by placing a senior surgical resident to provide continuity of care and facilitate training of local personnel. We present the experiences of the University of North Carolina (UNC) Department of Surgery as part of the UNC Project in Malawi as an example of this innovative approach.
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Acknowledgments
Funding for this work was provided by the North Carolina Jaycee Burn Center at the University of North Carolina; the University of North Carolina Center for AIDS Research Developmental Award (P30 AI50410); and by the National Institutes of Health Office of the Director, Fogarty International Center, Office of AIDS Research, National Cancer Center, National Eye Institute, National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute, National Institute of Dental & Craniofacial Research, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Health, and National Institutes of Health Office of Women’s Health and Research through the International Clinical Research Fellows Program at Vanderbilt University (R24 TW007988). The authors are particularly grateful to Anthony Meyer, MD, PhD, Chairman of the University of North Carolina Department of Surgery for his leadership and support of our work in Malawi.
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Qureshi, J.S., Samuel, J., Lee, C. et al. Surgery and Global Public Health: The UNC-Malawi Surgical Initiative as a Model for Sustainable Collaboration. World J Surg 35, 17–21 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-010-0836-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00268-010-0836-2