Madagascar in desperate need of skilled surgeons

Last December, a fourteen-year old girl is carried close to death on the backs of her relatives in a desperate attempt to provide much needed surgical care. She is hemorrhaging internally, a tragic effect caused by days of unsuccessful labor. She is hauled for two days to a main road, from which the group can reach the nearest surgical center. Once they arrive, they are received by the only available surgeon there, only for the young girl to receive an emergency caesarean section and ultimately lose the baby to strangulation by its own umbilical cord.

Above, Malagasy doctors perform surgery in Ambovombe, Madagascar. 

A very serious start to today's post, but stories like this are relatively commonplace in Madagascar. According to Emily Bruno and Mark Shrime (Harvard Medical School global surgery research associate and Program in Global Surgery at Harvard Medical School research director, respectively) roughly 71% of Madagascar's 24 million people deal with analogous challenges. What is worse is that those that do receive treatment receive bills that often lead to financial ruin. Each year, 81 million around the world descend into destitution as a result of getting much-needed surgery. This is an important enough issue that I will consider presenting it, along with feasible solutions, for my culture presentation.

-David M