Chris Rakuom
Ministry of Health, Kenya
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Surgery Curr Res
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is well-known for communicable disease outbreaks such as malaria, HIV and AIDS, cholera and more recently Ebola. It is also famous for high infant/child and maternal mortalities. Recent literature shows steady rise in NCDs as lifestyle in SSA Region changes to western style. How well SSA is preparing to effectively handle the emerging double burden of disease remains a fundamental question. Although less quantified and less published, surgical healthcare in most parts of SSA is still wanting. SSA poor health systems is characterized by acute shortage of human resources for health, inadequate medical supplies, sparsely distributed health facilities, and management inefficiencies that is epitomized by predominantly low life expectancies that is also facilitated by poor housing, poor road infrastructure, inadequate and poor transport systems, inadequate availability of foods and rampant famine. In this scenario, SSA lacks most of the essential healthcare skills and competencies such as the ones intended to be discussed and promoted in this conference. Available skills are far too inadequate and poorly distributed to reach every part of the population. Thus patients in SSA suffer from inadequate access to quality healthcare. Yet able patients access quality healthcare by seeking highly expertise services abroad. This paper therefore intends to explore medical-surgical nursing and its specialized sub-skills relevant in changing the quality and quantity of healthcare in SSA region. It explores availability, challenges, potentials, and the roles Africa and the World should play to ensure that nurses effectively contribute to improved healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa region, especially for women and children.
Email: cprakuom2009@rocketmail.com
