2025/04/30 by Víctor López‐López, Abdi Hakin Mohamed, Asunción López‐Conesa +5 · 1 voice
Medicine · Health Professions · #Global Health and Surgery #Global Health Workforce Issues #Advances in Oncology and Radiotherapy
paper · doi:10.1093/bjs/znaf107
openalex publication_date 2025/04/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Access to safe hepatobiliary and pancreatic (HPB) surgery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) remains severely constrained by limitations in infrastructure, lack of essential equipment, and insufficient specialized training programmes1,2. Although the evidence supporting the advantages of laparoscopic liver surgery continues to grow3, its implementation in resource-limited settings still encounters substantial barriers. In response to these challenges, the non-governmental organization Cirugía Solidaria, Clinic and University Virgen de la Arrixaca Hospital (Murcia, Spain), and Mombasa General Hospital (Kenya) launched a mentorship-based initiative combining surgical care with the training of local teams. The aim was to build long-term capacity in minimally invasive HPB surgery, tailored to the local context. Between 17 and 21 March 2025, 13 patients with advanced liver, biliary, and pancreatic diseases were assessed and 7 underwent major surgery. Among the campaign’s milestones were pure laparoscopic and hand-assisted liver resections, the removal of a giant hepatic hemangioma, a pancreaticoduodenectomy with hepatic artery anatomical variation, and the resection of colorectal liver metastases following neoadjuvant chemotherapy. All surgeries were carried out with the active participation of local residents, surgeons, and anaesthesiologists, who were mentored during every step of the procedures (Fig. 1).