

Surgeons 4 Africa
The shortage of surgeons in Africa is dire.
A study done in 2016 revealed that there is only one surgeon for every 200,000 people in the East, Central and Southern Africa region. This contrasts with a developed nation such as Ireland, which has one surgeon for every 2,000 people. 93% of the population of Sub-Saharan Africa cannot access timely, affordable, safe surgical care. This means that many minor injuries and conditions which are dealt with through routine treatment in developed nations, often end in severe and sometimes catastrophic outcomes. To quote the primary author of the study: “Lack of access to basic surgery in low- and middle-income countries kills more people than AIDS, TB and malaria combined." The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery has benchmarked that adequate surgical access is achieved when 5000 operations per annum are done for every 100 000. Yet, in at least 25 African countries, only 212 surgeries for every 100,000 are performed, 20 times lower than this minimum.
UCT is consistently the highest ranked university in Africa and Groote Schuur Hospital is well known as the site of the world's first heart transplant in 1967, and in present day, delivers world class tertiary and quaternary surgical care. This means that the UCT General Surgery training program, based at Groote Schuur Hospital, is one of the most competitive and highly regarded surgical programs on the continent. Every year, many international graduates from African nations apply for the program. Some of them are funded by their home countries, but many are completely self-funded. This means that they must live off their savings and find locum opportunities to survive, while completing the demanding 5 years of surgical training. They often endure significant hardship, such as months spent away from a spouse and children, and constant uncertainty about the future.
The UCT Surgeons 4 Africa scholarship aims to financially assist international graduates as much as possible, supporting them to complete the world-class UCT training program. The skills and connections they acquire will allow them to become the surgical leaders in their home countries, uplifting the health of their communities. Investing in this scholarship means investing in Africa, its people and their health. Help us to train the next generation of outstanding surgeons for Africa.