Seasonal variation and regional distribution of cleft lip and palate in Zambia.

Objective: To assess variations in seasonality and regional distribution of orofacial clefts in babies born in Zambia.

Design: A retrospective chart review was done using records of all cleft procedures performed by the only plastic surgeon in Zambia (G.J.

A survey of Canadian general surgery residents' interest in international surgery.

Objective: This survey of Canadian general surgery residents was designed to determine their interest level, past experiences and awareness of opportunities in the field of international surgery.

Methods: A web-based national survey in both French and English was sent to all Canadian general surgery residents. This survey comprised 24 questions regarding demographics, education, previous international experience, interest level and perceived opportunities in international surgery.

"What do kids know": a survey of 420 Grade 5 students in Cambodia on their knowledge of burn prevention and first-aid treatment.

Introduction: Cambodia is a developing country of 13 million people where there are an estimated 20,000 burns and 2000 burn deaths annually. Two thirds of the burns occur to children under the age of 10 years. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge of burn prevention and first aid for burns in Grade 5 Cambodian school children, as baseline information to design a burn prevention campaign.

Characteristics of burn patients at a major burn center in Shanghai.

In China, burns are becoming a major cause of morbidity and mortality with large societal and economic implications. To date, there is little epidemiological data on burns in China to direct prevention efforts. This study describes the characteristics of burn patients admitted to a major burn center in Shanghai using a burn registry developed in Toronto, Canada.

Building surgical research capacity in Africa: the Ptolemy Project.

The authors describe the Ptolemy Project, a recently developed model of electronic access to medical literature for surgeons in developing countries.

Characteristics of 1494 pediatric burn patients in Shanghai.

To analyze the epidemiological characteristics of pediatric burn patients in Shanghai and to determine the targets for a pediatric burn prevention program, a retrospective review of all medical records of acute pediatric burn patients (age View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Relevance of electronic health information to doctors in the developing world: results of the Ptolemy Project's Internet-based Health Information Study (IBHIS).

The aim of this study was to determine the current usage, relevance, and preferences for electronic health information (EHI) in the participant surgeons' clinical, research, and teaching activities. The Internet-Based Health Information Survey (IBHIS) was conducted from August to December 2003. Thirty-seven doctors (primarily practicing in East Africa) participated, all of whom had been using the Ptolemy resources for at least 6 months.

The burden of orthopaedic disease in developing countries.

The global burden of musculoskeletal disease in low and middle-income countries is large, growing, and neglected. While there is considerable funding for the control of communicable disease, there has been little attention paid to either the prevention or the treatment of orthopaedic problems in developing countries. "Safe Roads" was the theme for World Health Day 2004, and this paper examines the magnitude of injury in low and middle-income countries, as well as the motors powering its growth, and addresses the balance between the prevention and the treatment of injuries.