Global Health | Improving Surgery in Rural India

Challenge

Rural India faces a significant shortage of anesthesiologists and surgeons. As a result, many people do not receive important and often life-saving surgical care, or surgeons are required to perform procedures while administering anesthesia—a dangerous practice for patients.

Where We Started

John G. Meara, MD, DMD, MBA, Chief of the Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery at Boston Children’s and Director of the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC), and Sal Afshar, DMD, MD, FACS, and Attending Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon in the Department of Plastic and Oral Surgery, are leading a group of fellows in efforts to expand surgical access and improve health care delivery in India.

Our Impact:

Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard PGSSC experts are delivering spinal anesthesia training, making surgical procedures and interventions more widely available. Collaboration and innovation are also being fostered through programs that provide research training and encourage engineering students to develop prototypes of innovative, low-cost surgical devices.

You Can Make a Difference

With your support, we can continue to expand access to much-needed surgical procedures for children and adults worldwide.