Surgical Care Takes the Stage at WHA78—with Catalytic Funding to Match
With new catalytic investments into SURGfund, the days of treating surgical care as a side note in global health are over. It’s now a frontline strategy to strengthen systems, save lives, and deliver on the promise of universal health coverage.
Surgical care took the center stage at WHA78—with a new wave of funding to announced to the first and only catalytic fund for surgical care systems.
Stories That Stay With Us
We’ve heard the numbers: women dying in childbirth because no one was trained to operate. Children living with burns or broken bones that never heal. Cancers spreading—not because they were untreatable, but because surgery to remove the tumour was never within reach.
But it’s the stories—not the statistics—that stay with us.
“She’s a 20-year-old girl with an obstructed labour”, recalls Prof. Hadiza Galadanci of a young woman in her home state of Kano, Nigeria. “It took her more than 48 hours to reach a facility that could perform the caesarean section she urgently needed. When she finally received it, the surgery saved her life—but it was too late for the baby.”
This is what happens when surgical care is out of reach. Even the most common procedures—like caesarean sections—become a gamble with life and death.
For every baby who dies from a caesarean section done too late, for every child who never receives the surgery that could save their life, and for every health worker striving to deliver care with inadequate tools, there is a system that failed. And there is a system ready to change.
A System Ready to Change
At the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva this week, change gathered significant momentum.
A growing coalition of partners announced catalytic funding into SURGfund, the pooled-financing platform designed to strengthen surgical care systems in low- and middle-income countries. Globally anchored in Geneva through the Global Surgery Foundation, SURGfund channels resources to locally led initiatives aimed at making surgical care accessible, sustainable, and central to resilient health systems.
Empowering local leadership is at the core of SURGfund’s model - positioning local partners in the driver’s seat as true and equitable partners. It equally engages the public and private sector, recognizing that lasting change requires “all hands on deck”.
This moment marks a turning point. After ten years of advocacy, data gathering, and pilot programs, investment into surgical care is no longer an afterthought - it’s becoming a core strategy for governments and organisations worldwide to achieve sustained impact.
The Challenge: Without Surgical Care, Health Systems Fail
Despite global commitments to Universal Health Coverage, over five billion people still lack access to safe, timely, and affordable surgical care. Almost 30% of the global burden of disease requires the care of a surgical team. Every year, millions die or suffer unnecessarily from conditions that could be treated with a trained provider, basic infrastructure, and timely intervention.
And yet, surgical systems remain underfunded, poorly integrated, and too often treated as a luxury in global health financing.
The result? Stories like the one Prof. Hadiza Galadanci shared—a young woman in obstructed labour, forced to wait more than two days to reach a facility that could perform a basic surgical procedure. Her life was saved, but her baby’s was not.
It is a heartbreaking but all-too-common outcome in settings where surgical care is inaccessible. Her story exemplifies a deeper truth: efforts to improve maternal health, trauma response, or cancer care will falter without strengthening surgical systems.
The math is simple: without surgical care, health systems cannot function.
The Solution: Pooled, Catalytic Financing for Surgical Care Systems
SURGfund is the world’s first and only pooled funding mechanism for surgical care systems. It targets high-impact surgical interventions where the right combination of leadership, policy readiness, and infrastructure exists but needs a catalytic push to scale.
First announced in 2023, the momentum is already visible. Nine projects are currently supported by SURGfund, with more underway.
In Tanzania, a trauma initiative known as Building Bridges for Broken Bones was launched to address the burden of untreated fractures—particularly in rural areas where patients often never reach a hospital. What began as a local pilot is now preparing to scale nationally. The project exemplifies the catalytic model at the heart of SURGfund: combining seed capital, technical support, and strategic partnerships to unlock systemic change.
“The access to the network that GSF has, turned our idea into a full-fledged project. One that now also has financial backing from GSF, to ensure its realization.”
— Dr. Joost Binnerts, Shirati Foundation
In Nepal’s Koshi province, the SURGfund partnership with NESOG is beginning to train surgical teams to reduce maternal deaths from postpartum haemorrhage after caesarean sections. Launched in July 2024, the project aims to make 10,000 births safer each year. Crucially, it builds on local leadership and will empower surgical teams with the skills, systems, and support needed to save lives of mothers and newborns.
“We believe the collaboration between the GSF and NESOG will make a huge difference for families in Koshi Province.”
Dr. Saroja Karki Pande, Former President, NESOG
SURGfund is deliberately structured to build independence—not dependence. The projects it supports are led by national institutions, accountable to communities.
“Too often, health systems are like a car stuck in the mud—the engine is running, the driver is ready, but the wheels are spinning,” said Dr. Geoff Ibbotson, Executive Director of the Global Surgery Foundation. “Our role at GSF is to get down in the mud and push—while our local partners stay in the driver’s seat. That’s exactly what happened with the bonesetter project in Tanzania: a small dose of catalytic funding gave it the traction to move forward on its own. That’s the kind of future we’re building—locally driven, globally supported.”
Two New SURGfund Projects Launch in Kenya and Nigeria
Building on the early success, this year’s WHA marked the launch of two major new SURGfund projects aimed at reducing maternal mortality, expanding the initiative’s reach and impact.
In Kenya’s Nakuru County, a new collaboration will strengthen surgical infrastructure and integrate district-level data systems with national health planning. The project aims to improve maternal and perinatal outcomes for more than 25,000 women who give birth each year across five health facilities.
Meanwhile in Nigeria, a project in Kano State targets maternal mortality by improving the safety and accessibility of caesarean sections. The project is led by Prof. Galadanci and is expected to improve care for 27,000 women annually—each representing a story that could end in either tragedy or survival.
This project will provide access to equitable, timely, expert, and affordable surgical care which can be the difference between life and death for the majority of pregnant women in Nigeria.
— Prof. Dr. Hadiza Galadanci, GSF Advisor | Director of ACEPHAP Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Bayero University
Each project is locally led and implemented.
But the collective vision for strengthening surgical care is global.
“By 2030, our goal is to provide 50 million people in low- and middle-income countries with better access to surgical care,” notes Dr. Geoff Ibbotson.
New Funding for SURGfund Announced: Momentum Is Accelerating
At this year’s World Health Assembly, SURGfund received a powerful vote of confidence. A fresh round of catalytic funding was confirmed by both existing and new donors—signalling the accelerating momentum.
Leading among them is Johnson & Johnson, which made one of the largest single commitments to date.
“Today, Johnson & Johnson is proud to build on our legacy of strengthening surgical systems with a strong commitment to SURGfund”, said Ms. Alice Lin Fabiano, Global Director, Social Innovation & Investment at Johnson & Johnson.
With its commitment, Johnson & Johnson is building on its longstanding legacy of supporting surgical systems by helping develop and strengthen the surgical care workforce, equipping them to improve outcomes and advance access to quality surgical care around the world. Through SURGfund, they ultimately seek to leverage additional multilateral funding from governments, philanthropies, private industry and innovative finance channels to deliver increasing impact where it most needed.
Kids Operating Room also joined the growing SURGfund coalition, with a pledge towards strengthening children’s health, reinforcing the sense that the momentum behind surgical systems strengthening is accelerating.
“Now is the time to come together, show the world that surgery is the smartest investment. To build the momentum of partnerships, I am pleased to announce that we also will invest in the Global Surgery Foundation’s SURGfund”, said Mr. Garreth Wood, Co-founder & Chairman of KidsOR
Ferring Pharmaceuticals confirmed its financial backing as well—tying its investment to a broader vision for collaborative, sustained impact.
“Today, as part of our overall efforts, we are proud to announce Ferring’s financial commitment to SURGfund. This catalytic investment is part of a larger commitment to grow the partnership between Ferring and the Global Surgery Foundation”, said Dr. Vishal Shah, Global Medical & RWE Director, Ferring Pharmaceuticals.
This is the moment to step in. The groundwork has been laid. The model is activated. What’s needed now is scale. “J&J is proud to be at the forefront of this strong momentum with its commitment to SURGfund and we call on others to join us!”, says Ms. Alice Lin Fabiano, calling for a broad coalition of partners to join the momentum. “The power of SURGfund is that we do not need to do it alone in a siloed approach. Let’s do this together!”
A Story That Stays With You
Back in Kano, Nigeria, Prof. Hadiza Galadanci remembers the 20-year-old girl whose baby died because surgical systems were not equipped to manage complications. Today, thanks to SURGfund support, she helps trains surgical teams to respond better, faster, and safer.
“That’s why we are here tonight”, she notes, speaking at the WHA in Geneva to a global audience. “I see what it means for a baby to survive. What it means for her mother. For the family. For the future of a country. And for the health workers who can go home at night knowing they made a difference.”
Join the Movement
SURGfund is moving now, powered by local leadership and a growing wave of catalytic donors who understand the urgency of this moment.
Let’s build a world where no one dies for lack of a surgery.
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