Ep 36: Kokila Lakhoo

Global Scalpels: A Global Surgery Podcast

Children are one of the world’s protected populations. Indeed, they are the very make up of our future as a race. They bring new life, ideas, and opportunities we can only dream of. Unfortunately, not all children around the world have equal opportunities to contribute to this future. In 2019 alone, more than 5 million children under 5 years died from preventable and treatable causes - many of which are due to lack of surgical access. While there are many initiatives to help combat these alarming findings, many projects are condition specific (e.g. clubfoot, cleft palate, etc.) or have teams that work in silos from other parties that may benefit. They lack a “we” or “us” mentality and rather an “I” phenomenon. To help address this issue, the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery developed The Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery (GICS) in 2016. Join us today as we talk with Professor Kokila Lakhoo, a paediatric surgeon at Oxford, as she shares with us her insights into global collaboration as past president of GICS. We also explore the importance of trainee programs, advocacy, and training true doctors that have no borders.