Photo: 123 RF
A research collective at Auckland University, the Global Surgery Group, wants to bring improvements to surgical care in Pacific Island countries.
A member of the group, Will Perry, says they want to support the delivery of safe, affordable and timely surgical and anaesthetic care in the region.
He says it is not about short term care for a finite period of time, rather building a long term sustainable relationship.
Dr Perry says they have already been collecting baseline data in Samoa and Vanuatu from local stakeholders, with an eye to engaging them in the process.
"It is about developing infrastructure there and sustainability, particularly from a research perspective. So one of the things that came out of our early work in Vanuatu was that they wanted to look at two things. One is what are the barriers to access to surgical care in Vanuatu and the second thing is, how can we instil critical thinking amongst our young doctors?"
