Lecturer Will Discuss Success of Global Collaboration between Ireland and Africa

Half the world away from San Francisco’s world-class surgeons and hub of technical innovation lies sub-Saharan Africa, where populations have grossly inadequate access to surgical services.

This gap between the surgical “haves” and “have nots” is one that the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and College of Surgeons of East, Central, and Southern Africa (COSECSA) are working to address, according to Declan Magee, MB, BCh, FRCSI, who will deliver today’s Distinguished Lecture of the International Society of Surgery, “Global Surgery—A Tale of Two Colleges,” at 8:00 am in Room 153 Upper Mezzanine South.

In 2007, RCSI began a collaboration with COSECSA to assist it with developing surgical education, training, and examinations. As a member of Council of RCSI and chair of its Committee for International Collaboration and, subsequently, president of RCSI, Dr. Magee was actively involved from its inception until he stepped aside a few years ago.

“While there are many institutions involved in global surgery, I believe that our collaboration, built on genuine mutual respect, fits well with Dr. Henri Ford’s theme for Congress—‘Achieving our Best Together,’” Dr. Magee said.

According to Dr. Magee, his lecture will describe the chance origins of the partnership and its evolution over the past 17 years, including its challenges and successes. He notes that the shape and nature of RCSI’s support was the result of deliberate consideration of how the organization could best enable COSECSA to fulfil its mission and achieve its full potential, while avoiding a “colonial mindset.”

Importantly, RCSI has found an active and impressive partner organization with which to build a fruitful collaboration.

“We were never building something from scratch,” Dr. Magee said. “We had unqualified admiration and respect for the founders of COSECSA and their mission, and we were in the fortunate position of having resources and access to funding to help them on their journey, in a relationship which the late Paul Farmer, MD, PhD [a famed global health advocate and developer], described as accompaniment.”

Dr. Magee notes that the early years of collaboration coincided with an era for advancement for global surgery, and he will describe the period with the emergence of the G4 Alliance, Lancet Commission, and World Health Assembly Resolution, recognizing, for the first time, the importance of surgery within universal health coverage.

In addition, Dr. Magee will describe parallel initiatives in task-shifting, which are ongoing and are complementary to initiatives aimed at increasing the numbers of trained surgeons in the region. He also will discuss the early days of the RCSI Institute of Global Surgery, which has emerged from the RCSI’s positive experiences with its sister college, COSECSA.

The Distinguished Lecture of the International Society of Surgery was established in 1990 and endowed by the US Chapter of the International Society of Surgery to honor distinguished international surgeons. 

For those who are unable to attend the lecture, it will be made available for on-demand viewing shortly after the live presentation.