Humanitarian Surgery

5 billion people worldwide lack access to safe and affordable surgical care (The Lancet).
Each year, an additional 143 million surgical procedures are needed in low- and middle-income countries to meet essential needs (WHO).
Trauma and obstetric complications are among the leading causes of preventable death when timely access to surgery is not available (WHO).

When access to surgery is disrupted, emergencies become life-threatening and treatable conditions can result in lifelong disabilities.

In crisis settings, ALIMA supports safe and accessible humanitarian surgery, bringing care as close as possible to patients while strengthening local health facilities and teams.

Humanitarian context and challenge

When surgery becomes out of reach

In many humanitarian contexts, access to surgery is limited by:

a lack of surgeons and anesthesiologists;
insufficient or damaged operating theatres;
shortages of essential medicines, equipment, and consumables;
difficult or impossible medical evacuations, especially in remote areas or insecure environments.

Yet surgical needs remain frequent: trauma, abdominal emergencies, complicated infections, obstetric complications, and disabling urological or gynecological conditions.

💡 Why does this matter?

Without surgery, common conditions can lead to severe complications, irreversible disabilities, or death.
In conflict situations, a sudden influx of casualties can overwhelm hospitals within days.
When populations cannot afford care, surgery becomes inaccessible, even when available.

➡️ To address these challenges, ALIMA is taking action to make surgery possible where it is no longer available, by supporting existing health facilities.

ALIMA’s action

💡 How does ALIMA make surgery accessible in crisis settings?

ALIMA combines surgical care, hospital capacity strengthening, and skill transfer to meet urgent needs while contributing to a more sustainable healthcare system.

🔹Strengthening surgical capacity in health facilities

Supporting hospitals and referral centers to maintain or restart surgical activities.
Providing essential inputs: equipment, emergency medicines, consumables, and logistical support.
Improving patient care conditions (flow management, post-operative hospitalization, continuity of care, sterilization of equipment).
Deploying experienced surgeons and anesthesiologists.

🔹Emergency and critical care management

Reinforcing medical teams in situations of mass casualty influx.
Prioritizing surgical and critical care to reduce preventable mortality.
Coordinating with partner facilities to ensure continuity of patient care.

🔹Surgery integrated into maternal and essential healthcare

Supporting essential maternal health surgeries (e.g., obstetric emergencies).
Treating disabling conditions that directly affect dignity and autonomy (e.g., certain gynecological and urological conditions).

🔹 Training and skills transfer

Continuous training for local teams (technical procedures, post-operative care, patient safety).
Working alongside staff in supported facilities to ensure sustainable skills transfer.

LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR ACTIONS

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Why is access to surgery so limited in crisis settings?

Specialists are often lacking, operating theaters and essential supplies are insufficient, and medical evacuations may be impossible in remote or insecure environments.

What types of surgical needs are most common in humanitarian contexts?

Trauma, abdominal emergencies, complicated infections, obstetric complications, as well as certain disabling urological and gynecological conditions.

How does ALIMA act beyond performing surgeries?

ALIMA strengthens health facilities (supplies, organization, continuity of care) and provides ongoing training to transfer skills and improve the quality of surgical and post-operative care.

Our reports and publications on surgery

ALIMA conducts committed scientific research, grounded in the realities of the field.

Publication Title	Link	Authors	Journal	Year
A Prospective Study of the Outcome of Patients with Limb Trauma following the Haitian Earthquake in 2010 at One- and Two-Year (SuTra2 Study)	Read the publication	Delauche M.C., Blackwell N., Le Perff H., et al.	PLoS Currents	2013