BACKGROUND: In modern operating rooms, clean and unused medical supplies are routinely discarded and can be effectively recovered and redistributed abroad to alleviate the environmental burden of donor hospitals and to generate substantial health benefits at resource-poor recipient institutions. METHODS: We established a recovery and donation program to collect clean and unused supplies for healthcare institutions in developing nations. We analyzed items donated over a 3-year period (September 2010-November 2013) by quantity and weight, and estimated the projected value of the program under potential nationwide participation. To capture the health benefits attributable to the donated supplies at recipient institutions, we partnered with two tertiary-care centers in Guayaquil, Ecuador and conducted a pilot study on the utility of the donated supplies at the recipient institutions (October 2013). We determined the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) averted for all patients undergoing procedures involving donated items and estimated the annual attributable DALY as well as the cost per DALY averted both by supply and by procedure. RESULTS: Approximately, 2 million lbs (907,185 kg) per year of medical supplies are recoverable from large non-rural US academic medical centers. Of these supplies, 19 common categories represent a potential for donation worth US $15 million per year, at a cost-utility of US $2.14 per DALY averted. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital operating rooms continue to represent a large source of recoverable surgical supplies that have demonstrable health benefits in the recipient communities. Cost-effective recovery and need-based donation programs can significantly alleviate the global burden of surgical diseases.
BACKGROUND: In modern operating rooms, clean and unused medical supplies are routinely discarded and can be effectively recovered and redistributed abroad to alleviate the environmental burden of donor hospitals and to generate substantial health benefits at resource-poor recipient institutions. METHODS: We established a recovery and donation program to collect clean and unused supplies for healthcare institutions in developing nations. We analyzed items donated over a 3-year period (September 2010-November 2013) by quantity and weight, and estimated the projected value of the program under potential nationwide participation. To capture the health benefits attributable to the donated supplies at recipient institutions, we partnered with two tertiary-care centers in Guayaquil, Ecuador and conducted a pilot study on the utility of the donated supplies at the recipient institutions (October 2013). We determined the disability-adjusted life years (DALY) averted for all patients undergoing procedures involving donated items and estimated the annual attributable DALY as well as the cost per DALY averted both by supply and by procedure. RESULTS: Approximately, 2 million lbs (907,185 kg) per year of medical supplies are recoverable from large non-rural US academic medical centers. Of these supplies, 19 common categories represent a potential for donation worth US $15 million per year, at a cost-utility of US $2.14 per DALY averted. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital operating rooms continue to represent a large source of recoverable surgical supplies that have demonstrable health benefits in the recipient communities. Cost-effective recovery and need-based donation programs can significantly alleviate the global burden of surgical diseases.
Authors: Agnes Binagwaho; Patrick Kyamanywa; Paul E Farmer; Tej Nuthulaganti; Benoite Umubyeyi; Jean Pierre Nyemazi; Soline Dusabeyesu Mugeni; Anita Asiimwe; Uzziel Ndagijimana; Helen Lamphere McPherson; Jean de Dieu Ngirabega; Anne Sliney; Agnes Uwayezu; Vincent Rusanganwa; Claire M Wagner; Cameron T Nutt; Mark Eldon-Edington; Corrado Cancedda; Ira C Magaziner; Eric Goosby Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2013-11-21 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: Sam Luboga; Sarah B Macfarlane; Johan von Schreeb; Margaret E Kruk; Meena N Cherian; Staffan Bergström; Paul B M Bossyns; Ernest Denerville; Delanyo Dovlo; Moses Galukande; Renee Y Hsia; Sudha P Jayaraman; Lindsey A Lubbock; Charles Mock; Doruk Ozgediz; Patrick Sekimpi; Andreas Wladis; Ahmed Zakariah; Naméoua Babadi Dade; Peter Donkor; Jane Kabutu Gatumbu; Patrick Hoekman; Carel B Ijsselmuiden; Dean T Jamison; Nasreen Jessani; Peter Jiskoot; Ignatius Kakande; Jacqueline R Mabweijano; Naboth Mbembati; Colin McCord; Cephas Mijumbi; Helder de Miranda; Charles A Mkony; Pascoal Mocumbi; Jean Bosco Ndihokubwayo; Pierre Ngueumachi; Gebreamlak Ogbaselassie; Evariste Lodi Okitombahe; Cheikh Tidiane Toure; Fernando Vaz; Charlotte M Zikusooka; Haile T Debas Journal: PLoS Med Date: 2009-12-22 Impact factor: 11.069
Authors: Maria-Alexandra Petre; Lisa Bahrey; Mark Levine; Adriaan van Rensburg; Mark Crawford; Clyde Matava Journal: Can J Anaesth Date: 2018-12-13 Impact factor: 5.063