An estimated five billion of the world’s population are unable to access safe surgery when they need it, and only six per cent of the 313 million procedures performed annually are done in the world’s poorest countries.

Access is defined by four criteria: safety, affordability, timeliness and capacity to deliver, the lack of which means 16.9 million lives are lost each year. These deaths represent 32.9 per cent of the annual global mortality.

For too long, health policy affecting the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world has ignored access to safe surgery and anaesthesia. But a concerted global effort is shifting policy at all levels, and a universal health goal is part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Safe surgery and anaesthesia are vital to effectively treat much of the global burden of non-communicable diseases and injuries, and contribute to the provision of safe childbirth.

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