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Drs. Cheng & Martin are invited to the WHO's 10th anniversary of GIEESC, at WHO headquarters, Switzerland

GIEESC group

Dr. Amelia Contreras Palomino, Gastroenterology, Stuttgart, Germany; Dr. Davy Cheng, Distinguished University Professor and Chair/Chief of the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine and Medical Director of MEDICI, Western University; Dr. Meena Cherian, EESC Program Director, WHO; Dr. Edward Kelly, Director of SDS1 and HIS2, WHO3; and Janet Martin, Assistant Professor and Director of MEDICI4, Western University

1 Service, Delivery & Safety, WHO; 2Health Systems & Innovation, WHO; 3World Health Organization; 4Centre for Medical Evidence, Decision Integrity, Clinical Impact

The 10th anniversary meeting focused on developing the final draft of this roadmap and discussion of the five themes of the resolution:

  1. Advocacy, governance, development of funding and other resources
  2. Access, governance, integrated systems, quality, and partnerships
  3. Data collection, analysis, and sharing; evaluation and monitoring
  4. Essential medicines and narcotics policies, antimicrobial resistance
  5. Training, competence, credentialing and oversight

Western University faculty, Dr. Davy Cheng (MEDICI Medical Director) and Dr. Janet Martin (MEDICI Director) were invited to attend and contribute to the development of the roadmap. Dr. Cheng represented the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, as well as the Scientific Affairs Committee of the World Federation of Societies of Anesthesiologists (WFSA), and Dr. Martin chaired a working group on Data Metrics and Quality Indicators in Emergency and Essential Surgery and Anesthesia Care.

MEDICI has been collaborating with WHO GIEESC on:

  • Developing evidence-informed guidelines
  • Advocating for development of capacity for essential surgery, anesthesia, emergency and critical care in resource-poor settings as a component of Universal Health Care
  • Providing workshops on evidence-informed decision-making in essential surgery and anesthesia contextualized to resource-poor settings

Janet Martin, Davy Cheng, and Jennifer Vergel de Dios are co-authors on a newly published paper, “Survey of the capacity for essential surgery and anaesthesia services in Papua New Guinea”. This paper is the result of a WHO GIEESC project in collaboration with local health authorities, and provides a first-time cross-sectional measure of capacity gap to provide essential surgical, emergency and anesthesia services in Papua New Guinea.


Dr. Martin and Dr. Cheng also presented the MEDICI led WHO Guidelines for Screening, Diagnosis, Triage, and Management of Patients Presenting for Surgery in the Context of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and Other Viral Haemorrhagic Fevers (VHF). The guidelines and accompanying algorithm provide evidence-based recommendations for the safe provision of anesthesia and surgical services in the context of EVD.

Learn more about our MEDICI Program