Kenyan and Philippines Ministries of Health Host Event to Accelerate Progress Towards Surgical Equity in UHC
The Kenyan and Philippines Ministries of Health, in partnership with Smile Train , KidsOR, the Henry Family Advised Fund, COSECSA, the G4 Alliance, and West African College of Surgeons, hosted an event to galvanize action towards the integration of surgical care as a necessary component of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). For more than 5 billion people around the world, safe, affordable, and timely surgical and anesthesia care remains out of reach. This health crisis, which represents one of the worst inequities in health, continued legacies of poverty, gender inequality, and lack of education for millions of families around the world. The burden of Neglected Surgical Diseases, including untreated cleft lip and palate and clubfoot, obstetric fistula, cataracts, hernia, and neglected trauma such as fractures and burns, falls disproportionately upon those living in low- and middle- income countries—particularly women and children. The potential for Universal Health Coverage (UH