An Assessment of Anesthesia Capacity in Liberia: Opportunities for Rebuilding Post-Ebola

The impact of scheduling ketamine as an internationally controlled substance on anaesthesia care in Sub-Saharan Africa: a case study and key informant interviews

BACKGROUND

Access to anaesthesia and surgical care is a major problem for people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this region, ketamine is critical for the provision of anaesthesia care. However, efforts to control ketamine internationally as a controlled substance may significantly impact its accessibility. This research therefore aims to estimate the importance of ketamine for anaesthesia and surgical care in Sub-Saharan Africa and assess the potential impact on access to ketamine if it were to be scheduled.

METHODS

This research is a mixed-methods study, comprising of a cross-sectional survey at the hospital level in Rwanda, and key informant interviews with experts on anaesthesia care in Sub-Saharan Africa. Data on availability of four anaesthetic agents were collected from hospitals (n = 54) in Rwanda. Semi-structured interviews with 10 key informants were conducted, collecting information on the importance of ketamine, the potential impact of scheduling ketamine internationally, and opinions on misuse of ketamine. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using a thematic analysis approach.

RESULTS

The survey conducted in Rwanda found that availability of ketamine and propofol was comparable at around 80%, while thiopental and inhalational agents were available at only about half of the hospitals. Significant barriers impeding access to anaesthesia care were identified, including a general lack of attention given to the specialty by governments, a shortage of anaesthesiologists and migration of trained anaesthesiologists, and a scarcity of medicines and equipment. Ketamine was described as critical for the provision of anaesthesia care as a consequence of these barriers. Misuse of ketamine was not believed to be an issue by the informants.

CONCLUSION

Ketamine is critical for the provision of anaesthesia care in Sub-Saharan Africa, and its scheduling would have a significantly negative impact on its availability for anaesthesia care.

Anaesthesia delivery systems in low and lower-middle-income Asian countries: A scoping review of capacity and effectiveness

Literature on anaesthesia systems in low and lower middle-income countries is limited, focused on the Africa region, and provides minimal data on anaesthesia or associated disciplines within intensive care, pain management and emergency medicine. We thus conducted a scoping review of primary and secondary research literature on capacity and effectiveness of anaesthesia delivery in low and lower middle-income countries in the Asia region from 2000-2021, to clarify existing knowledge, important gaps, and possible subsequent steps. We applied Arksey and O'Malley's scoping literature review method to search five databases (i.e. EMBASE, CINAHL, Medline, Scopus, Web of Science), screen, extract, and synthesise data under three themes: (i) availability and type of anaesthesia workforce; (ii) anaesthesia system infrastructure, equipment, and supplies; and (iii) effectiveness of anaesthesia provision. We included 25 eligible sources of 603 identified. Only ten (40%) were published in the last 5 years and Asian lower-income countries were primarily represented in 15 multi-country sources. Fifteen (60%) sources used quantitative methods and provided limited information on data collection, e.g. sampling criteria or geographic areas included. No sources included countrywide data, despite anaesthesia delivery and resources differing significantly sub-nationally (e.g. central versus rural/remote, or insecure areas). Data on anaesthesiology delivery were limited, with findings including insufficiencies in workforce, supplies, training, and skills-building of anaesthesia personnel, along with the lack of consistent strategies for overcoming maldistribution of resources and improving anaesthesia delivery systems in the region. This review, a first attempt to synthesise existing data on anaesthesia delivery systems in low and lower-middle-income Asian countries, shows the anaesthesia literature is still limited. Findings highlight the urgent need for additional research and collaboration nationally and regionally to strengthen anaesthesia delivery and surgical facilities in resource-constrained settings.

Barriers to accessing internationally controlled essential medicines in sub-saharan Africa: A scoping review

BACKGROUND

Access to internationally controlled essential medicines (ICEMs), medicines that are listed on both the World Health Organization's Essential Medicines List and one of three international drug control conventions, remains problematic in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Previous reviews have focused only on specific ICEMs or ICEM-related healthcare fields, but none have focused on all ICEMs as a distinct class. This scoping review therefore aims to identify the barriers to accessing ICEMs across all relevant healthcare fields in SSA.

METHODS

A scoping review was conducted across indexing platforms Embase, PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science of studies published between January 1 2012 and February 1 2022. Articles were eligible if they mentioned barriers to accessing ICEMs and/or ICEM-related healthcare fields, if studies were conducted in SSA, or included data on an SSA country within a multi-country study. The review was guided by the Access to Medicines from a Health System Perspective framework.

RESULTS

The search identified 5519 articles, of which 97 met the inclusion criteria. Many barriers to access were reported and were common across the ICEMs drug class. Main barriers were: at the individual level, the lack of knowledge about ICEMs; at the health service delivery level, low availability, stockouts, affordability, long distances to health facilities, insufficient infrastructure to store and distribute ICEMs, and lack of ICEM knowledge and training among healthcare workers; at the health sector level, lack of prioritisation of ICEM-related healthcare fields by governments and subsequent insufficient budget allocation. Cross-cutting, governance-related barriers pertained to lack of proper quantification systems, cumbersome procurement processes, and strict national laws controlling ICEMs, leading to overly restrictive prescription practices.

CONCLUSION

This review showed that there are a multitude of barriers to accessing ICEMs in SSA across all health system levels. Many of the barriers identified are applicable to all ICEMs, highlighting the importance of tackling barriers for this entire class of drugs together.

Surgical Capacity in Public and Private Health Facilities After a Five-Year Strategic Plan Implementation in Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study

Background

Surgical capacity is critical for ensuring optimum access to safe, affordable, and timely emergency and essential surgical care (EESC) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like Ethiopia. A five-year strategic plan has been implemented during 2016-2020 in Ethiopia to improve surgical capacity.

Objectives

This study aims to evaluate the impact of the five-year strategy in surgical capacity in the country.

Methods

A cross sectional survey was conducted in 172 health care facilities in Ethiopia from December 30, 2020, to June 10, 2021. Descriptive statistical analysis was done using STATA statistical software Version 15.

Findings

A total of 2,312 surgical workforces were available and, the surgical workforce to population ratio ranged from 1.13:100,000 for public specialized hospitals to 10.8:100,000 for health centre operation room (OR) blocks. Surgical bed to population ratio was 0.03:1000 population, and the average numbers of OR tables per facility were 34. Nearly 25% and 10% of OR tables were not functional in public primary hospitals and private hospitals, respectively. The average surgical volume to population ratio was 189:100,000.

Conclusions

Following the implementation of surgical care strategy, the surgical workforce density has increased. However, the study revealed that there is still a huge unmet gap in surgical capacity. The improvement in surgical volume is very low compared to the increment in the surgical workforce density. In addition to the investment being made to build surgical capacity, emphasis needs to be put on surgical system design and strengthening surgical system efficiency.

Use of geospatial analysis for priority setting in surgical system investment in Guatemala

Background

Two-hour and 30 min travel times to a hospital capable of performing emergency general surgery and cesarean section are benchmarks for timely surgical access. This study aimed to estimate the population of Guatemala with timely access to surgical care and identify existing hospitals where the expansion of surgical services would increase access.

Methods

The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) Anesthesia Facility Assessment Tool (AFAT) previously identified 37 public Guatemalan hospitals that provide surgical care. Nine additional public non-surgical hospitals were also identified. Geospatial analysis was performed to estimate walking and driving geographic access to all 46 hospitals. We calculated the potential increase in access that would accompany the expansion of surgical services at each of the nine non-surgical hospitals.

Findings

The percentage of the population with walking access to a surgical hospital within 30 min, 1 h, and 2 h are 5·1%, 12·9%, and 27·3%, respectively. The percentage of people within 30 min, 1 h, and 2 h driving times are 27·3%, 41·1%, and 53·1%, respectively. The median percentage of the population within each of Guatemala's 22 administrative departments with 2 h walking access was 19·0% [IQR 14·1-30·7] and 2 h driving access was 52·4% [IQR 30·5-62·8]. Expansion of surgical care at existing public Guatemalan hospitals in Guatemala would result in a minimal increase in overall geographic access compared to current availability.

Interpretation

While Guatemala provides universal health coverage, geographic access to surgical care remains inadequate. Geospatial mapping and survey data work synergistically to assess surgical system strength and identify gaps in geographic access to essential surgical care.

Funding

None.

Anesthesia Health System Capacities in Public Hospitals of Punjab, Pakistan

Purpose: This study intends to outline the capacity of anesthesia health system in public hospitals of Punjab, Pakistan.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey among public hospitals of Punjab was carried out that provide emergency and elective surgical care. We measured capacity in terms of infrastructure; surgical, anesthetic, and obstetric (SAO) workforce; surgical interventions; information management; equipment; and medication which was accomplished between October 2020 and February 2021.

Results: Out of 106 public hospitals in Punjab, almost 40% had only one anesthesia provider. Only 50% of the hospitals reported round the clock availability of anesthesia providers for surgical cases. While caesarean sections were carried out in more than 90% of health facilities, general surgery, pediatric surgery, and open fracture surgery were conducted only in 50% of the hospitals. Although local and general anesthetic agents were available in the majority of hospitals, essential medicines for safe anesthesia were not available in all hospitals.

Conclusion: This first comprehensive assessment of anesthesia health system capacity exposed a crucial deficiency of critical supplies and workforce for providing safe anesthesia and, hence, safe surgery. The surveyed facilities had an uneven division of resources.