ArticleBMJ open2021
Financing of surgery and anaesthesia in sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review.
Article in BMJ open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Cost-effectiveness of surgical interventions in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and critical analysis of recent evidence.BMJ global health · 2024Pooled it
- Identifying critical gaps in research to advance global surgery by 2030: a systematic mapping review.BMC health services research · 2023Pooled it
- Association of surgery and economic development in low- and middle-income countries: evidence from a dynamic panel data analysis.BMJ global health · 2026Article
- National surgical, obstetrics, and anaesthesia plans in Sub-Saharan Africa: a comparative economic content analysis.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Global trends influencing orthopedic surgeons' midshaft clavicle fracture management: a Bullet Health Analysis.Journal of trauma and injury · 2026Article
- Review
- Financing surgery in LMICs: building sustainable and equitable systems for universal surgical access - a narrative review.BMC surgery · 2025Review
- Artificial Intelligence in Anesthesia: Enhancing Precision, Safety, and Global Access Through Data-Driven Systems.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Who pays for surgical care in the global south? A narrative review.PLOS global public health · 2025Review
- Exploring the concept of surgical transition: surgical activity in the light of economic development in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana and India.Frontiers in surgery · 2025Article
- Assessment of the financial gaps in cardiothoracic surgery in Africa.Interdisciplinary cardiovascular and thoracic surgery · 2024Article
- Perioperative capacity and contextual challenges in teaching hospitals of southern Ethiopia: explanatory sequential mixed-methods research.Perioperative medicine (London, England) · 2024Article
- Expanding surgical access in Africa through improved health insurance schemes: A review.Medicine · 2024Review
- National Surgical Healthcare Policy Development and Implementation: Where do We Stand in Africa?World journal of surgery · 2023Article
- Article
- Critical shortage of capacity to deliver safe paediatric surgery in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from 67 hospitals in Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Article
- The state of surgery, obstetrics, trauma, and anaesthesia care in Ghana: a narrative review.Global health action · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study aimed to provide an overview of current knowledge and situational analysis of financing of surgery and anaesthesia across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
settingSurgical and anaesthesia services across all levels of care-primary, secondary and tertiary.
designWe performed a scoping review of scientific databases (PubMed, EMBASE, Global Health and African Index Medicus), grey literature and websites of development organisations. Screening and data extraction were conducted by two independent reviewers and abstracted data were summarised using thematic narrative synthesis per the financing domains: mobilisation, pooling and purchasing.
resultsThe search resulted in 5533 unique articles among which 149 met the inclusion criteria: 132 were related to mobilisation, 17 to pooling and 5 to purchasing. Neglect of surgery in national health priorities is widespread in SSA, and no report was found on national level surgical expenditures or budgetary allocations. Financial protection mechanisms are weak or non-existent; poor patients often forego care or face financial catastrophes in seeking care, even in the context of universal public financing (free care) initiatives.
conclusionFinancing of surgical and anaesthesia care in SSA is as poor as it is underinvestigated, calling for increased national prioritisation and tracking of surgical funding. Improving availability, accessibility and affordability of surgical and anaesthesia care require comprehensive and inclusive policy formulations.
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Registered trials
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