The AAGS Advocacy committee, advocates for academic program development and advancement in global surgery towards achieving equitable access to surgical healthcare for all. Our efforts center equity on all academic pursuits in global surgery. 

 

National Institute of Health Request for Information on Promoting Equity in Global Health Research

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We led an effort along with the Research Committee and leadership council members, to contribute to the NIH RFI Equity in Global Health Research in 2022. We believed it was crucial for us to advocate for an increase in support for research towards surgical healthcare equity around the globe. Our contribution was included in the final report by NIH. You can read the full report here

 

 

Conference Equity Guidelines

 

This project described systemic barriers to the LMIC frontline provider participation at global conferences and led to development of a consensus on a set of guidelines to overcome them. Key consensus recommendations include introducing fee waivers and travel grants to counter financial barriers for LMIC attendees, promoting hybrid conferences, advocating in political forums, and relocating events to visa-friendly countries to address geopolitical challenges. The changes required will take time, continued effort, resource investment and a tiered approach to enable conference organizers to progressively achieve more inclusive and equitable practices. 

 

Equitable Academic Exchanges

The advocacy committee has been evaluating how medical licensure requirements impact academic exchanges. Our  Exchanges Project was presented at the CUGH conference satellite session on Bidirectionality in Medical Education and the Barriers to Short-term Training Equity in 2024. Additionally the Best Presentation Prize at Bethune Round Table- 2024 was awarded to Dr. Riya Sawhney for the presentation of this project.

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