Medical practitioners sound warning over worsening shortage of surgeons amid Africa’s population bulge 

February 27, 2025 in Foreign News, Science and Technology by Editor

Guest of Honor, Rwanda’s Prime Minister, Dr. Édouard Ngirente shaking hands with Open Smiles Co-Founder, President, and CEO, Kathy Magee. Also in the photo Rwanda’s Minister of Health, Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana.

Medical practitioners, policy experts, researchers and other key stakeholders attending the Pan African Surgical Conference, have called for urgent interventions to address the rapidly shrinking numbers of surgical professionals serving Africa’s burgeoning population. Papers delivered during the 2025 edition of the Pan-African Surgical Conference (#PASC2025) that opened in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali, show the surgical experts crisis  in Uganda and Africa, could reach alarming levels by 2030 when the shortage of surgical care providers in Africa is projected to hit six million vacancies, leaving millions without access to life-saving procedures.

Among the speakers at the conference is Ugandan Dr. Rose Alenyo a Senior Lecturer at Makerere University Medical School.

Convened by medical charity, Operation Smile and themed “Building Resilient and Sustainable Surgical Services in Africa: A Surgeon in Every District Hospital”, the conference seeks to increase surgical access in Africa by strengthening local surgical workforces in individual countries and exploring context-specific solutions to the identified gaps in local surgical ecosystems.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the five-day conference, Professor Faustin Ntirenganya, a senior consultant general and onco-plastic surgeon at the University of Rwanda and co-chair of the conference said that, “millions of people lack access to life-saving surgical care – a basic human right.

“This conference is not just about discussions; it is a call to action for a shared vision of access to quality healthcare. If we foster collaboration, equip local providers, and invest in innovation, we can create a future where no patient is left behind and reshape the future of surgical care in Africa and beyond.”

Ms Billy Magee, conference co-chair and chief medical officer, Operation Smile observed that the task at hand cannot be managed by Africa on its own and called on global corporations, philanthropies, charities and first world countries to support Africa’s efforts in training local surgical practitioners.

“Operation smile, a locally led, globally supported organisation works together with local healthcare providers, ministries of health, health systems, governments, NGOs, corporations, and academic institutions to exchange ideas and scale up Africa’s next generation of surgeons and anaesthesiologists. I am thrilled to see this collaboration come to life in Kigali today – as every voice in this room contributes to a global network of solutions, innovation, and progress,” she said.

Keynote speakers include Dr. Hanna Getachew (Consultant General and Paediatric Surgeon), Dr. Peter Nthumba (Head and Program Director of Plastic Reconstructive Surgery at the AIC Kijabe Hospital Nairobi) and Prof. Kathryn Chu (Director of the Centre of Global Surgery), among others.

Key discussions will also be centred on innovative solutions in healthcare infrastructure, policy advocacy for surgical access and strategies for enhancing surgical training and research in Africa.

Operation Smile, a global nonprofit that has been working to close the gap in surgical and health care access for more than 40 years across 37 countries, has operated in Africa since 1987. The organization has worked in 12 African countries to build a sustainable surgical workforce through strategic partnerships and will expand to Tanzania in 2025.