The Global Surgical Consortium

The Global Surgical Consortium (GSC) is a 501c3 non-profit organization that was founded in 2010 by Dr. Kelly McQueen. The organization's framework was inspired by the work of the Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence, a multidisciplinary international society. The goal of GSC is to "improve access to and delivery of safe surgery and anesthesia in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) through research and coordinated local and international action." GSC aims to achieve this goal by creating an open-source database to link the data it collects on the specific surgical needs of LMICs with the organizations and individuals capable of providing the essential education and training, tools, and resources.
Mission
The Global Surgical Consortium researches and compiles data on the key factors that affect access to safe surgery and anesthesia in LMICs and quantifies exactly how much those factors influence access to and related outcomes of surgical care in the identified countries. The GSC data describes critical shortages and deficiencies and reveals avenues for improved access, delivery, and safety of surgical care.
The Need for Global Surgery
Nearly 5 billion people worldwide lack access to basic surgery and safe anesthesia. This is especially true in low-income and lower-middle income countries where 9 out of 10 people have limited or no access to safe surgery and anesthesia. 143 million additional surgical procedures are needed annually t meet unmet surgical needs worldwide.
History & Background
The idea to create GSC came from the Burden of Surgical Disease Working Group (BoSDWG), the first established group working towards promoting global surgery within global public health. BoSDWG later became the Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence (ASAP), which inspired the GSC.
2010-2015
During its first 5 years, GSC acquired preliminary data from LMICs by completing infrastructure surveys with support from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative. GSC surveyed 12 countries that required critical attention towards their surgical capacities. GSC compared the results from the first completed infrastructure surveys with data collected by the World Health Organization's Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (GIEESC) and the Surgeons Overseas (SOS), all of which revealed the unmet surgical, anesthetic, and obstetrical needs common to low-income, lower-middle income and upper-middle income countries. The results also began to reveal regional variations in resources and needs.
Leadership & Funding
GSC is run by its President and founder, Dr. Kelly McQueen, as well as its officers and board members, and receives input from its advisory board members. GSC is primarily funded through cash and in-kind donations.
President & Founder
Kelly KA McQueen, MD, MPH
Executive Director
Michelle Notrica, Pharm D, JD
Treasurer
Melissa Cole
Board Members
Dan Roke
Mike Higgins
Advisory Panel
Michael Vanrooyen, MD, MPH
Senator William H. Frist, MD
Robert Quigley, MD
Staff
Megan Eluhu, Administrative Director
Interns
Jonathan Meadows, MPH, CPH, CPhT
Affiliations
GSC currently has ongoing partnerships with the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, the Lancet Commission, and the Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence.

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