Emergency and essential surgical care



Every year, 5 million people are losing their lives because of injuries. Young people between the ages of 15 to 44 years account for almost 50% of the world's injury-related mortality, representing a significant proportion of a country's economically-productive workforce. The profound economic impact in a developing country is unmistakable. Often, a family's primary breadwinner has no access to surgical services in the event of a debilitating injury, causing the family to give up precious resources to support the injured family member.

The WHO EESC program works with its partners to strengthen EES system delivery to victims of road traffic accidents, violence, falls, and burns by providing guidelines, training tools, and support to increase the capacity of first-referral level facilities to deliver safe and effective emergency surgical care through education and training.

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