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Fizan Abdullah, MD, PhD

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In reply

Let me return thanks to Dr Ozgediz for sharing his and his colleagues' successful experience of the last 5 years in capacity building with a surgical training program in Uganda. Indeed, the need for global surgical care is enormous. As Dr Ozgediz appropriately highlighted, volunteerism and advocacy will be the first steps in this long journey. However, I do want to take this opportunity to present the principles for the expansion of surgical and medical care that I believe to be important as we move forward:

1. Provide direct aid. Focus resources directly on systems and infrastructure improvement, not data gathering or measuring outcomes. Although end points are important, they should not become primary.
   
2. Incorporate local input. Programs must be championed locally, not externally imposed.
   
3. Avoid handouts. Economically integrated solutions are more likely to be self-sustained in the long-term beyond initial implementation efforts.
   

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