The Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) faces various public health burdens that strain the surgical systems.
Trauma-related fatalities are on the increase in some countries due to political instability, conflicts, and natural and
climate-related disasters. These factors compromise access to basic health care services, the impact of which is reflected in metrics such as the high maternal mortality ratios in the EMR. In addition, cancer is a major threat to public health, and mortality is predicted to double by 2045, while access to palliative and reconstructive services remains limited.
EMR countries are diverse politically, socially, economically, and in infrastructural development, and this diversity greatly impacts availability and access to health care at all levels. Despite these inequalities, tremendous progress has been made towards achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. Maternal mortality ratio in the region decreased from 231 to 196 deaths per 100 000 livebirths between 2010 and 2015, then to 179 per 100 000 by 2020. Implementation of the Regional Cervical Cancer Elimination Strategy, including introducing hepatitis and human papillomavirus vaccination, early detection, screening, and treatment of cervical and other preventable or treatable cancers, is also notable. Enhancing access to surgical services in the region will further advance these significant achievements and move EMR countries closer to achieving Universal Health Coverage.
The WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, in collaboration with the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change at Harvard Medical School, is proposing a special issue of the Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal (EMHJ) on SURGICAL CARE DELIVERY: GLOBAL INNOVATION, PRIORITIES AND FINANCING. The aim is to document high-impact research work on surgical care globally, including the challenges and innovations, and provide a comprehensive compendium of critical multisectoral solutions that can be applied to improve surgical care in the EMR. This special issue will support efforts to address the noncommunicable disease crisis in the region through the advancement of surgical care research and practice.
Types of manuscripts expected
Manuscripts for this special issue can be submitted as commentaries, letters to the editor, original research articles, short research communication, reviews, reports, and policy briefs. Among others, manuscripts should focus on any of the following priority areas:
- Surgical care delivery [e.g. innovations in blood transfusion systems, access to surgical care, palliative care]•
- Financing mechanisms and health economics of surgical services
- Surgical care in migration and displacement settings
- Surgical care and climate change
- Surgical care in disaster and conflict settings [e.g. trauma care systems, neurotrauma]
- Surgical care policy [e.g. regional, national, and sub-national surgical planning, national cancer plans]
- Surgical oncology, especially breast and cervical cancer
Manuscript submission information
- Interested authors should submit their manuscripts through the Editorial Manager at: https://www2.cloud.editorialmanager.com/emhj/.
Manuscripts must comply with the “Information for authors” available at:
https://www.emro.who.int/emh-journal/authors/ - Manuscripts should focus on public health issues and offer system-level, policy-relevant work, and should not be clinical
- Please indicate in your submission that the manuscript is for consideration for the special issue on SURGICAL CARE DELIVERY: GLOBAL INNOVATION, PRIORITIES AND FINANCING
