Navigating laparoscopic surgery into the next decade in developing countries - a personal perspective.

INTRODUCTION: Over 500 years ago, Vasco de Gama navigated from west to east, from Lisbon in Portugal to Calicut in India, in an epic voyage that lasted over 1 year (Fig. 1). This voyage was perhaps the greatest historic and, certainly, the greatest navigational achievement of the last millennium. For better or for worse, it catalysed a series of events that forever changed not only the history, but also the geography of the world. DISCUSSION: In our plans to navigate endoscopic surgery into the next decade in developing countries, we too should endeavour to change both the history and the geography of surgery. This talk traces a journey over 34 years of effort to spread laparoscopic surgery into developing countries.