Gaps and priorities in innovation for children's surgery

In brief

This article identifies critical gaps in surgical innovation for children in resource-limited settings and proposes priorities for expanding pediatric surgical capacity. The authors examine barriers to surgical access and outline strategic approaches for technology development, training, and infrastructure building in low- and middle-income countries.

• Innovation in pediatric surgery remains concentrated in high-income countries, creating significant disparities in access to advanced techniques.
• Priority gaps include affordable surgical devices, training models for low-resource settings, and context-appropriate technologies.
• Global collaboration and needs-based innovation frameworks are essential to address unmet surgical needs in children worldwide.
• Cost-effectiveness and scalability must be central to pediatric surgical innovation to ensure equitable implementation across settings.

Written by the GCMD Library team from the article.