Approximately 30% of the global burden of human disease consists of conditions that are surgical [1]. Recent estimates indicate that 5 billion people lack access to safe, affordable surgical and anesthesia care when needed. Access is worst in low-income and lower-middle-income countries, where nine of ten people cannot access basic surgical care. This results in reduced welfare for millions of people and stunts the development of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). 143 million additional surgical procedures are needed in LMICs each year to save lives and prevent disability. Of the 313 million procedures undertaken worldwide each year, only 6% occur in the poorest countries, where over a third of the world’s population lives.
33 million individuals face catastrophic health expenditure due to payment for surgery and anaesthesia care each year. An additional 48 million cases of catastrophic expenditure are attributable to the nonmedical costs of accessing surgical care. A quarter of people who have a surgical procedure will incur financial catastrophe as a result of seeking care. The burden of catastrophic expenditure for surgery is highest in low-income and lower-middle-income countries and, within any country, lands most heavily on poor people. Without urgent and accelerated investment in surgical scale-up, LMICs will continue to have losses in economic productivity, estimated cumulatively at US $12·3 trillion (2010 US$, purchasing power parity) between 2015 and 2030 [2].
Accordingly, Dr. Jim Yong Kim, former President of the World Bank, declared that “surgery is an indivisible, indispensable part of health care” and called for a “shared vision and strategy for global equity in essential surgical care” [3]. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the surgeons who work with them play a crucial role in providing surgical aid to LMICs.

Reconstructive Surgery Tanzania (RECOTZ) is an independent, non-governmental, and non-profitable organization established by a group of medical professionals with common interests and experiences in different medical fields to create awareness of physical and psychological disabilities that can be corrected by reconstructive surgery, provide reconstructive surgery services, and financial support to patients in need. It is registered with the Ministry of Community Development, Gender, and Children as a non-governmental organization with the registration number 00NGO/R/6487.
RECOTZ conducts its activities along with its network and partners in all 31 regions & 195 districts in the Tanzania mainland. We work across the nation to implement our objectives by engaging in different activities to support the government of Tanzania and its people.
Join hands with us in reducing the burden of access to reconstructive surgery services with a mission to create a community aware of its health problems and provide treatment support to reduce suffering and improve quality of life.
By Dr Nadir Meghji,
Plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
Muhimbili National Hospital.
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