Introduction: Somaliland is an autonomously run country that is not internationally recognized. As such, it has been largely excluded by global health development programs despite being the world's fourth poorest country. The purpose of this study was to provide the first known description of the pattern and clinical profile of patients with cleft lip and palate from this nation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Congenital conditions comprise a significant portion of the global burden of surgical conditions in children. In Somaliland, over 250,000 children do not receive required surgical care annually, although the estimated costs and benefits of scale-up of children's surgical services to address this disease burden is not known.
Methods: We developed a Markov model using a decision tree template to project the costs and benefits of scale-up of surgical care for children across Somaliland.
Background: Delayed access to surgical care for congenital conditions in low- and middle-income countries is associated with increased risk of death and life-long disabilities, although the actual burden of delayed access to care is unknown. Our goal was to quantify the burden of disease related to delays to surgical care for children with congenital surgical conditions in Somaliland.
Methods: We collected data from medical records on all children (n = 280) receiving surgery for a proxy set of congenital conditions over a 12-month time period across all 15 surgically equipped hospitals in Somaliland.
Background: The provision of health care in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) is recognized as a significant contributor to economic growth and also impacts individual families at a microeconomic level. The primary goal of our study was to examine the relationship between surgical conditions in children and the poverty trajectories of either falling into or coming out of poverty of families across Somaliland.
Methods: This work used the Surgeons OverSeas Assessment of Surgical Need (SOSAS) tool, a validated household, cross-sectional survey designed to determine the burden of surgical conditions within a community.
Background: Existing data suggest a large burden of surgical conditions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). However, surgical care for children in LMICs remains poorly understood. Our goal was to define the hospital infrastructure, workforce, and delivery of surgical care for children across Somaliland and provide policy guidance to improve care.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFImportance: Although surgical conditions are increasingly recognized as causing a significant health care burden among adults in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the burden of surgical conditions among children in LMICs remains poorly defined.
Objective: To estimate the prevalence of pediatric surgical conditions across Somaliland using a nationwide community-based household survey.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study was conducted through a national community-based sampling survey from August through December 2017 in Somaliland.