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Opinion Paper
Paediatric airway foreign-body removal equipment availability in sub-Saharan Africa
Submitted: 26 October 2023 | Published: 24 May 2024
About the author(s)
Fiona Kabagenyi, Department of Ear Nose and Throat, Faculty of Medicine, Makerere University, Kampal, UgandaAlexander D. Cherches, Faculty of Medicine, Duke University, School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States of America
Nina R. Patel, Faculty of Medicine, Loyola Chicago Stritch, School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States of America
Samuel N. Okerosi, Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Faculty of Medicine, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
Mary Jue Xu, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, United States of America; and, National Clinician Scholars Program, University of California, San Francisco, United States of America
Wale L. Gellaw, Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Faculty of Surgery, St Paul Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Tagwa H.A. Abdalla, Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Faculty of Medicine, University of Khartoum, Khartoum, Sudan
Felicia Tshite, Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Faculty of Surgery, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
Buhlebenkosi J. Hlomani, Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Faculty of Surgery, Ondangwa Private, Ondangwa, Namibia
Titus Dzongodza, Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Faculty of Surgery, Sally Mugabe Children’s Hospital, Harare, Zimbabwe
Reuel K. Maina, Department of Ear, Nose and Throat, Faculty of Surgery, Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya
Shazia Peer, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa; and, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Surgery, Red Cross War Memorial Children’s hospital, Cape Town, South Africa
Joshua Wiedermann, Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, United States of America
Douglas R. Sidell, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, Stanford University, Stanford, United States of America; and, Department of Aerodigestive and Airway Reconstruction Center, Stanford Children’s Health, Stanford, United States of America
Taseer Din, Division of Paediatric Otolaryngology, Head-Neck Surgery, Department of Surgery, Sidra Medicine and Research Center, Doha, Qatar
Abstract
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), home to over 1 billion people, has only one paediatric otolaryngology fellowship program and nine fellowship-trained paediatric Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery (OHNS) specialists covering seven countries. Seven of these specialists estimated an average of 40+ patients per month are in need of critical surgical airway management in their respective countries and that 2–25 deaths per year (mainly paediatric) occur in their country from lack of access to foreign body removal equipment. Investing in paediatric airway infrastructure and capacity would largely benefit the health system in SSA, where the current lack of equipment alone leads to unmeasured morbidity and mortality. As a region of the world with the largest paediatric populations, sub-Saharan Africa’s need is all the more pressing given the disproportionately low number of medical specialists, institutions and resources. Collaborative approaches in procurement and maintenance of high-quality, cost-effective equipment are crucially desirable factors in both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs). We, as the Global OHNS Initiative, urge for multi-stakeholder engagement and collaboration to forge lasting change.
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