Anesthesia Global Health at the 72nd World Health Assembly

Global anesthesia, global health and anesthesia, global anesthesia fellowship

UCSF ADGHE Professor Emeritus Dr. Adrian Gelb presenting at 72nd WHA May 2019.

In May and June 2019 the Anesthesia Division of Global Health Equity (ADGHE) was honored to participate in the 72nd World Health Assembly (Geneva, Switzerland) and the first Utstein Meeting on Global Surgery (Stavanger, Norway).

In 2015, the 68th World Health Assembly (WHA) unanimously passed resolution 68.15 (WHA68.15) to strengthen emergency and essential surgical and anesthesia care as a component of universal health coverage. In May 2019, advocates gathered to further advance and discuss priorities for improving equitable access to anesthesia and surgery services worldwide.

In June 2019, the Laerdal Foundation sponsored the first Utstein-style meeting on global surgery. The two-day meeting was co-chaired by UCSF ADGHE Adrian Gelb and convened experts from around the world to review and refine the 2015 Lancet Commission on Global Surgery’s six indicators. Topics included measuring workforce, periop mortality, global surgical volume, access to care and financial risk protection. Participants included the World Bank, World Health Organization (WHO), UNFPA, Harvard Program for Global Surgery and Social Change, WHO Collaborating Center on Surgery, Anesthesia and Obstetric Workforce, Laerdal Global Health, Kings College London, Birmingham University, and many more.

Top 5 recommendations from global health community in the opening for the 72nd WHA included invest in safe surgery and anesthesia, by Richard Hort (Time 00:50).

Global anesthesia, global health and anesthesia, global anesthesia fellowship
Tore Laerdal addressing the Utstein Global Surgery participants.