Today marks the UN Global Health Day focusing global attention on the need for everyone to have access to safe, timely and affordable healthcare.
1.75 billion children in the world don’t have access to surgical care, particularly those living in low income countries, yet the deadline for reaching the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Good Health and Well Being is a mere four years away.
What are the Sustainable Development Goals?
The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals are 17 goals signed up to by all 193 member states as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.
What Is The Most Important Goal?
All 17 goals are important, but the one most relevant to us is Goal 3 (SDG 3), which focuses on ensuring good health and well-being for all people, regardless of age, gender, or nationality. It’s a broad goal encompassing a wide range of health issues, from disease prevention to improving healthcare systems. Over the years, one of the biggest calls to action has been Universal Healthcare, making sure everyone has access to high-quality and affordable healthcare.
Scaling up access to safe and timely surgery is crucial to achieving SDG 3.
Safe surgery for children is a crucial, but frequently neglected, aspect of paediatric healthcare that is vital to achieving SDG 3. Surgery, obstetrics and anaesthesia care are fundamental to many of the targets within SDG 3, such as ending preventable deaths in neonates and children under-5 by 2030, and halving the number of deaths and injuries from road traffic injuries. Therefore, scaling up access to safe and timely surgery, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), is key in making progress towards achieving SDG 3.
Achieving universal health coverage, including financial risk protection.
Within SD3 is another target focused on attaining universal health coverage (UHC) – the goal that everyone, everywhere can access the quality health services they need without risk of financial hardship.
We see so many families who’ve sold everything they own to try and afford the medical care they need, or have to choose between having enough food and paying for medical care. Often, we hear stories of families that have spent what money they have on transport just to reach the hospital, which is often far from where they live. Some families will pay traditional healers as a cheaper alternative, but they can’t cure the condition, or ultimately, many families get into further poverty and debt.
That is why we fund every aspect of a child’s operation. From the moment they meet with our healthcare coordinators, the consultation with our doctors, the actual operation, transport to and from the hospital, any hospital stay that is needed, post-op care and medical supplies and medications, we cover everything.
If the UN is to achieve this goal, it must ensure that universal health coverage means every aspect of a child’s operation is funded from start to finish. By doing this, not only are we ensuring a healthy population, but we’re also narrowing the health disparities that exist between rich and poor communities.
Access to Safe Surgery
Access to safe surgery for children doesn’t just contribute to SDG 3; it also supports a range of other SDGs, including Goal 4 (Quality Education), as healthy children are more likely to attend school regularly and perform well academically.
It also supports SDG 1 (No Poverty) by preventing the long-term financial strain that families experience when their children are unable to work or require ongoing care.
Additionally, safe surgery promotes DG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) as healthy children grow up to be productive adults, capable of contributing to the economy.
Governments, healthcare providers, and global health organisations must collaborate to strengthen health systems, improve access to quality surgical care, and build local capacity for paediatric surgery. Training local surgeons, improving supply chains, and integrating surgical care into national health policies will be essential in making safe surgery a reality for every child and ensuring good health and well-being are achieved for everyone.
To help fund safe and timely surgery for children, please visit our Patient Page