Barriers to surgery performed by non-physician clinicians in sub-Saharan Africa-a scoping review.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces the highest burden of disease amenable to surgery while having the lowest surgeon to population ratio in the world. Some 25 SSA countries use surgical task-shifting from physicians to non-physician clinicians (NPCs) as a strategy to increase access to surgery. While many studies have investigated barriers to access to surgical services, there is a dearth of studies that examine the barriers to shifting of surgical tasks to, and the delivery of safe essential surgical care by NPCs, especially in rural areas of SSA. This study aims to identify those barriers and how they vary between surgical disciplines as well as between countries.

Methods

We performed a scoping review of articles published between 2000 and 2018, listed in PubMed or

SUBMITTER: van Heemskerken P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7368796 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature