For the past decades, the area of global public health focused on fighting infectious diseases. However, in 2014, the lancet commission on Global Surgery placed global surgery in the focus of the global public health community, highlighting the unmet needs to address health inequities in surgical care around the world. The lack of access to safe, affordable surgery accounts for three times the mortality of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. It is also estimated that 90% of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have no access to basic surgical care exposing them to the risks of preventable deaths. Addressing the unmet global surgical needs will cost about US $350 billion by 2030; but, not addressing these needs will cause losses estimated at US $12.3 trillion by 2030.
Neurological surgery is one of the most critical surgical areas that require highly skilled surgeons, requires advanced technology, and prevents substantial morbidity and mortality in the population. Health inequities in global neurosurgical care contribute to higher mortality and more economic losses in LMICs. For example, patients with traumatic brain injuries have at least 2.15 higher odds of death in LMICs compared to high-income countries. Besides, the existing public health inequities deprive LMICs of the advances in neurosurgical technology and the advanced neurosurgical research, which further widens the gap and worsens the situation in LMICs.
Therefore, prioritizing the health services and achieving public health equity in neurosurgical care for all people worldwide have become moral, financial, and global public health necessities that require global actions.
The primary goal of this Research Topic is to advocate for Global Neurosurgery as part of the Global Health spectrum that requires extensive efforts in the upcoming years to eliminate the existing health inequities and avoid preventable deaths in low- and middle-income countries. We also aim to highlight the current needs, capacity, efforts, and future directions in the area of Global Neurosurgery.
This Research Topic is dedicated to manuscripts on the study, research, practice, and advocacy of the Global Neurosurgery.
Types of manuscripts that we are interested in:
1- Primary research
2- Opinion articles
3- Review articles & Meta-analyses
4- Modeling studies
Examples for titles that are welcomed for this Frontiers research topic
• Articles advocating for Global Neurosurgery from a public health perspective
• Articles comparing the neurosurgical capacity, research, technology, and training in LMICs vs. high-income countries
• Articles comparing the neurosurgical outcomes in LMICs vs. high-income countries for any neurosurgical condition(s)
• Articles discussing the current gaps and future directions in Global Neurosurgery
• Articles proposing solutions to the existing health inequities in Global Neurosurgery
For the past decades, the area of global public health focused on fighting infectious diseases. However, in 2014, the lancet commission on Global Surgery placed global surgery in the focus of the global public health community, highlighting the unmet needs to address health inequities in surgical care around the world. The lack of access to safe, affordable surgery accounts for three times the mortality of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. It is also estimated that 90% of people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have no access to basic surgical care exposing them to the risks of preventable deaths. Addressing the unmet global surgical needs will cost about US $350 billion by 2030; but, not addressing these needs will cause losses estimated at US $12.3 trillion by 2030.
Neurological surgery is one of the most critical surgical areas that require highly skilled surgeons, requires advanced technology, and prevents substantial morbidity and mortality in the population. Health inequities in global neurosurgical care contribute to higher mortality and more economic losses in LMICs. For example, patients with traumatic brain injuries have at least 2.15 higher odds of death in LMICs compared to high-income countries. Besides, the existing public health inequities deprive LMICs of the advances in neurosurgical technology and the advanced neurosurgical research, which further widens the gap and worsens the situation in LMICs.
Therefore, prioritizing the health services and achieving public health equity in neurosurgical care for all people worldwide have become moral, financial, and global public health necessities that require global actions.
The primary goal of this Research Topic is to advocate for Global Neurosurgery as part of the Global Health spectrum that requires extensive efforts in the upcoming years to eliminate the existing health inequities and avoid preventable deaths in low- and middle-income countries. We also aim to highlight the current needs, capacity, efforts, and future directions in the area of Global Neurosurgery.
This Research Topic is dedicated to manuscripts on the study, research, practice, and advocacy of the Global Neurosurgery.
Types of manuscripts that we are interested in:
1- Primary research
2- Opinion articles
3- Review articles & Meta-analyses
4- Modeling studies
Examples for titles that are welcomed for this Frontiers research topic
• Articles advocating for Global Neurosurgery from a public health perspective
• Articles comparing the neurosurgical capacity, research, technology, and training in LMICs vs. high-income countries
• Articles comparing the neurosurgical outcomes in LMICs vs. high-income countries for any neurosurgical condition(s)
• Articles discussing the current gaps and future directions in Global Neurosurgery
• Articles proposing solutions to the existing health inequities in Global Neurosurgery