The Power of Advocacy in Global Neurosurgery

Kemel A. Ghotme, Translational Neuroscience Research Lab, School of Medicine, Universidad de La Sabana, Campus Universitario Puente del Común, Chia, Colombia.
Gail Rosseau, Department of Neurosurgery, George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, District of Columbia, USA.
Jeffrey Blount, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Adrian Caceres, Servicio de Neurocirugía, Hospital Nacional de Ninos Dr Carlos Saenz Herrera, San Jose, Costa Rica.
Roxanna M. Garcia, Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Mahmood Qureshi, Neurosurgery Section, Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, Kenya.
Ronnie Baticulon, Division of Neurosurgery, Philippine General Hospital, University of the Philippines Manila, Manila, Philippines.
Nathan A. Shlobin, Department of Neurological Surgery, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Kee B. Park, Harvard Initiative for Global Health: Harvard Global Health Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Frederick A. Boop, Neurosurgery Division, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
Syed Ather Enam, Brain and Mind Institute, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan.
Fatu Conteh, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Anthony Figaji, Neuroscience Institute, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Philip R. Aldana, Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, University of Florida, Jacksonville, Florida, USA.
Ernest J. Barthélemy, Global Neurosurgery Laboratory, Division of Neurosurgery, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Richard Moser, Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Eylem Ocal, Department of Neurosurgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA.
Jogi Patissapu, College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA.
Walter D. Johnson, School of Public Health, Loma Linda University School of Public Health, Loma Linda, California, USA.
Tariq Khan, Department of Neurosurgery, Northwest School of Medicine, Peshawar, Pakistan.

Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

8-26-2024

Journal

Neurosurgery

DOI

10.1227/neu.0000000000003108

Abstract

Advocacy, one of the five domains of global neurosurgery, represents a powerful avenue to influence public policy to expand access to safe, timely, and affordable neurosurgical care. In this manuscript, we characterize advocacy in global neurosurgery, describe specific neurosurgeon-led initiatives, and delineate how neurosurgeons can become involved in global neurosurgery advocacy efforts. Advocacy in global neurosurgery involves working together in organized neurosurgery with organizations focused on clinical provisions, training, and policy initiatives. Effective advocacy uses a data-driven approach with myriad facilitators, including collaboration and approach strategies for sharing information and a variety of contextual, ideological, and practical barriers. The main action fronts for global neurosurgery include identifying needs, broadening access, and assuring quality. Neurosurgery-led initiatives transforming public policy have occurred on regional and global scales and accelerated since 2019. Folate fortification of staple foods to prevent neural tube defects represents a recent and notably successful area of advocacy and remains in progress. Neurosurgeons who aspire to become involved in advocacy efforts must obtain competencies and skills distinct from, yet complementary to, the traditional neurosurgical training curriculum.

Department

Neurological Surgery

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