The need for sustainability in contemporary global health efforts: missions vs mission.

摘要

Until recently, response to the surgical global health burden has been largely through short-term volunteer surgical missions. With a few exceptions, most of these missions are time limited and unpredictable. A visit to any operating room in the developing world reveals a landscape littered with the detritus of well- meaning missions: unrepaired ventilators, incubators, and anesthesia machines labeled with the name and date of the mission can be found in the most remote parts of the world. Although short-term missions have no doubt improved the lives of many individuals, their ability to make a meaningful and lasting effect in the developing world is limited.