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Review
. 2017 Jun 28;4(7):53.
doi: 10.3390/children4070053.

Surgical Outreach for Children by International Humanitarian Organizations: A Review

J Matthew Kynes  1 , Laura Zeigler  2 , Kelly McQueen  3
Affiliations
Review

Surgical Outreach for Children by International Humanitarian Organizations: A Review

J Matthew Kynes et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Low- and middle-income countries carry a disproportionate share of the global burden of pediatric surgical disease and have limited local healthcare infrastructure and human resources to address this burden. Humanitarian efforts that have improved or provided access to necessary basic or emergency surgery for children in these settings have included humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, short-term surgical missions, and long-term projects such as building pediatric specialty hospitals and provider networks. Each of these efforts may also include educational initiatives designed to increase local capacity. This article will provide an overview of pediatric humanitarian surgical outreach including reference to available evidence-based analyses of these platforms and make recommendations for surgical outreach initiatives for children.

Keywords: global health; humanitarian outreach; missions; pediatric surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

References

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