About This Project

Neurological diseases are responsible for up to 6.8 million deaths per year, a proportion of which are neurosurgical. There is a notable lack of information regarding our current capacity to respond to the burden of neurosurgical disease, especially in low and middle income countries (LMICs). We aim to quantify the current neurosurgical workforce per country with attention to the ability to provide standard of care as defined by the availability of equipment and training capacity.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

Surgery continues to not be considered a health priority worthy of investment in many low income countries. Neurosurgery has been even further overlooked, often deemed too complex and costly for low-income settings. However, neurological diseases affect up to 1 billion individuals worldwide, and are responsible for up to 6.8 million deaths per year. Global Burden of Disease figures estimate traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) to be responsible for 11.2% of total global disability adjusted life years (DALYs), majority of which are in LMICs. Thus, the need for neurosurgical care is evident worldwide, especially within low- and middle-income contexts where the burden is arguably greater.

What is the significance of this project?

The Global Neurosurgery Workforce Interactive Mapping Project is a joint collaboration between the WHO and WFNS, to better pinpoint the areas around the world most in need of neurosurgical support. Currently, little information is known about access to neurosurgical services worldwide, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Additionally, there is a notable lack of information regarding our current baseline capacity to respond to the burden of neurosurgical disease, especially in LMICs, with existing estimates of the neurosurgical workforce, equipment and neurosurgical training capacity in LMICs more than a decade old. If we are to create targeted solutions to increasing access to neurosurgery worldwide, we must first understand the current baseline state.

What are the goals of the project?

Our data collection will proceed in phases. We are currently conducting Phase 1, which will gather neurosurgeon density and distribution, as well as basic neurosurgical capacity and training for each country. Phase 2 will focus on gathering information on the types and complexity of neurosurgical operations that are performed in low and middle-income countries. Finally, we want to make our data accessible to the world through an interactive website that will not only demonstrate our current state of neurosurgical care provision worldwide, but also enable surgeons or non-surgeons across the world can input data directly, so we can better understand how access to neurosurgical care is changing and what are the areas still in greatest need.