Successful adaptation of twinning concept for global neurosurgery collaborations-a validation study.

Introduction: Globally, many regions have an urgent, unmet need of neurosurgical care. A multi-step neurosurgical twinning technique, International Neurosurgical Twinning Modeled for Africa (INTIMA), was proved to be successful during a previous mission to Neurosurgical Unit, Enugu, Nigeria. The Swedish African Neurosurgical Collaboration (SANC) performed a developmental mission together with the local neurosurgical unit in The Gambia, adopting the INTIMA model.

History and Current State of Neurosurgery in the Gambia.

Background: Despite global efforts to improve surgical care access, many low- and middle-income countries, especially in neurosurgery, face significant shortages. The Gambia exemplifies this, with only 1 fully qualified neurosurgeon serving its population of 2.5 million people.