Increasing access to safe surgery in Ghana
Operation Smile supports the development of a National Surgical, Obstetric and Anaesthesia Plan in Ghana to improve access to safe surgical care for all Ghanaians.
Around 5 billion people globally, lack access to safe, affordable and timely surgical care. Low-and middle-income countries like Ghana carry the highest burden.
Operation Smile’s Health Policy and Advocacy Department and Operation Smile Ghana are currently working with the Ministry of Health of Ghana and the National Surgical, Obstetric, and Anaesthesia Plan (NSOAP) Technical Working Group to develop the country’s first NSOAP. The NSOAP will serve as a national strategic roadmap to increase access to safe, timely and affordable Surgery Obstetric Trauma and Anaesthesia (SOTA) care for all Ghanaians in alignment with the country’s goals for Universal Health Coverage.
Closer to patients
As part of the NSOAP development process, Operation Smile is supporting the Ministry of Health-Ghana and the NSOAP Technical Working Group’s stakeholder meetings. The team is also providing technical assistance with baseline assessments including the development of baseline data collection tools and training of data collectors at health facilities throughout the country.
Baseline data collection has been completed in sixty (60) health facilities across Ghana. This data will be used to guide stakeholder discussions around strategies to be employed in the NSOAP to address the high surgical burden throughout the country.
