The Role of Organizations like IVUmed in Developing Centers of Excellence
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GLOBAL HEALTH (K MCCAMMON, SECTION EDITOR)
The Role of Organizations like IVUmed in Developing Centers of Excellence Maahum Ali Haider 1,2
&
Frank N. Burks 3 & Ayun Cassell 4 & Mohamed Jalloh 5
Accepted: 19 October 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Purpose As healthcare disparity gaps continue to grow across the globe, so too are the efforts aimed at addressing them. Here we review the most common platforms currently used in global health and advantages and disadvantages of each. We highlight international organizations that have prioritized health system strengthening and long-term sustainability and apply the lessons learned from these endeavors to propose mechanisms for developing centers of excellence in low- and middle-income countries. Summary Health system strengthening must be prioritized in international urologic endeavors. Without recognizing this as a fundamental goal, well-intentioned efforts are bound to have only short-term benefit and suboptimal use of valuable resources and will neglect a critical opportunity to promote local self-sufficiency and sustainable improvement in patient outcomes. Keywords Global urology . International urology . Global health . IVUmed . Health system strengthening . Surgical missions
Introduction According to the most recent Global Burden of Disease data, surgical conditions account for 28–32% of the overall global burden of disease [1•]. We also know from recent studies that improving surgical care can be cost-effective, with some interventions scoring the same number of “DALYS averted” as vaccination programs [2•]. A growing number of individuals and organizations have risen up to address this growing need, but the disparities between high-income countries (HIC) and low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) continues to grow. Most sub-Saharan African countries have only a few trained urologists serving their entire population. In 2018 there were 5 urologists in Mozambique serving the entire population of
29.5 million people, while the ratio in the USA was 3.89 urologists per 100,000 people [3]. The international charitable sector has borne part of the burden of addressing the disparities in care, and within the USA, this sector has grown at a pace exceeding GDP by 20% [4••, 5]. Thus far, there have been few attempts to quantify the impact or effectiveness of these various endeavors and indeed to ascertain whether these efforts have led to any measurable improvement in patient care. By the same token, several LMICs have recently focused more attention on population health with the development of national health plans and formation of high acuity care and surgical centers. However, healthcare delivery can take many forms ranging from community elders dispensing traditional
This article is part of the Topical Collection on Global Health * Maahum Ali Haider [email protected] Frank N. Burks [email protected] Ayun Cassell [email protected] Mohamed Jalloh [email protected]
1
Department of Urology, University
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