A proposed matrix for planning global surgery interventions

Abstract

The concept of surgery and global health is gaining acceptance; however, a great deal of confusion still exists as to what constitutes global surgery. To facilitate the overall view of how surgical care in a low resource setting can be integrated into a health system, a matrix for planning global surgery interventions has been developed. The key components of this tool are treatment locations and disease time course. The matrix also allows for the inclusion of information on surgical capacity for personnel, infrastructure, procedure, equipment, and supplies. This simple tool can assist researchers, program implementers, policy makers, and donors understand how to improve the delivery of surgical care to the billions of people around the world in need.