In this week's PLoS Medicine , Kathryn Chu, from Médecins Sans Frontières in Cape Town, South Africa, and colleagues describe the experiences of MSF after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and discuss how to improve delivery of surgery in humanitarian disasters. To avoid the supply delays, lack of appropriately experienced surgeons, and duplication and fragmentation of services that characterized the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake, they propose the formation of the Emergency Surgery Coalition (ESC), a group consisting of organizations with extensive experience in delivering surgical care in man-made or natural disasters.
The authors say "Improved surgical delivery will require pre-emptive planning and inter-agency coordination. The ESC, comprising key players from major surgical humanitarian agencies, is a proposal to improve surgical delivery in disasters and could support the work ahead."
Funding: No specific funding was received for the writing of this paper.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Chu K, Stokes C, Trelles M, Ford N (2011) Improving Effective Surgical Delivery in Humanitarian Disasters: Lessons from Haiti. PLoS Med 8(4): e1001025. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001025
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CONTACT: Dr. Kathryn Chu
Médecins Sans Frontières
Cape Town
South Africa
kathryn_chu@yahoo.com
PLOS Medicine