The Canadian Network for International Surgery (CNIS) is a non-profit organization that promotes the delivery of essential surgical care to underprivileged people in low-income countries. Its objective is also to reduce death and disability caused by any disturbances in normal functioning of the mind or the body that would require surgery. The CNIS emphasizes education in surgical development and research. The CNIS was federally incorporated in August 1995 and is managed by an eight- to nine-member board of directors with representation from all over Canada. It has a nationwide membership of physicians, surgeons, and others. The CNIS office is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, with satellite office(s) in Africa.

Activities

The CNIS has described itself as having a "4-pronged approach" to aid. This includes the development, delivery, and adaptation of Essential Surgical Skills (ESS) and Basic Surgical Skills (BSS) courses, work in injury prevention, the exchange of surgical information and work in public engagement.

ESS and BSS courses

The CNIS is engaged with academic departments and professional associations in the southern hemisphere and was founded was to develop northern infrastructure in order to make Canadian surgeons more effective internationally. Delivery of Essential Surgical Skills includes 5-day workshops in which clinicians who are not surgeons are taught basic surgical interventions and life-saving skills. The BSS course is a 2-day workshop, with topics that include

lymph node A lymph node, or lymph gland, is a kidney-shaped organ of the lymphatic system and the adaptive immune system. A large number of lymph nodes are linked throughout the body by the lymphatic vessels. They are major sites of lymphocytes that includ ...

biopsy A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed by a surgeon, interventional radiologist, an interventional radiologist, or an interventional cardiology, interventional cardiologist. The process involves the extraction of sampling (medicine), sample ...

tendon A tendon or sinew is a tough band of fibrous connective tissue, dense fibrous connective tissue that connects skeletal muscle, muscle to bone. It sends the mechanical forces of muscle contraction to the skeletal system, while withstanding tensi ...

repair, and

blood vessel Blood vessels are the tubular structures of a circulatory system that transport blood throughout many Animal, animals’ bodies. Blood vessels transport blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen to most of the Tissue (biology), tissues of a Body (bi ...

anastomosis An anastomosis (, : anastomoses) is a connection or opening between two things (especially cavities or passages) that are normally diverging or branching, such as between blood vessels, leaf veins, or streams. Such a connection may be normal (su ...

. The BSS course is an example of training that was developed at the request of an African learning institution.

Injury prevention

According to the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

, injuries and violence account for 9% of global mortality. Two-thirds of deaths due to injury occur in the developing world. It has been argued that injury prevention in low-income countries is an under-scrutinized field.
S. N. Forjuoh ''et al''. "Injury control in Africa: getting governments to do more" ''Tropical Medicine & International Health'', Volume 3, Number 5, May 1998, pp. 349-356. One of the CNIS's primary concerns is injury and, from that, injury-risk reduction. Reducing injury would reduce the need for surgery, while improving access to surgery for residents of low-income countries would improve their overall health. The CNIS has established injury control centers with local governments.

Surgical information

Through the Surgical Information Program, the CNIS supports medical school and hospital libraries in Africa by sending new or recent surgical/medical books and journals. The CNIS also funds two African students' and one Canadian student's research scholarship at th
Injury Control Centre - Uganda (ICC-U)
With the help of th

the CNIS provides editorial support to the ''Association of Surgeons of East and Central Africa Journal of Surgery.''

Public engagement

The CNIS has acted across Canada through its Public Engagement Program, which publicizes the need for access to safe surgical and obstetrical care in Africa. It has recruited Canadian surgical professionals to take part in international surgery projects. Activities have included workshops and seminars, language training, newsletters and cultural events.

Collaborating countries

So far, the CNIS appears to have concentrated its international outreach within the continent of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. They have implemented surgical skills training courses in Addis Ababa, Jimma, Gondor, Mekele, and Hawassa in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

; Blantyre and Lilongwe in

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

; Bamako,

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

; Maputo in

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

; Butare in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

; Dar es Salaam and Moshi in

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

; and Mbarara and Gulu in

Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...

. The CNIS has begun obstetrical skills training programs in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Kampala, Uganda. They initiated injury control center work in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Kampala, Uganda.

Program Support Unit (PSU)

This is the first office of CNIS in Africa. The Program Support Unit (PSU) is located in the Black Lion Hospital at Addis Ababa University Surgical Skills Lab, Ethiopia and it supports CNIS activities in Africa.

Surgical and Obstetrical Skills Training Project in Ethiopia

In 2005, the CNIS launched a new innovation project to establish surgical learning centers at six universities in Ethiopia. The universities in this project will have learning centers that are dedicated for surgical and obstetrical care at the end of the project. The project also will have an institutional capacity-building component where surgical department staff will attend workshops in management, leadership and fund raising skills. The project builds on results of previous efforts, which are intended to promote long-term capacity-building in obstetrical and surgical operations and care. The learning centers will train and certify

primary care physician A primary care physician (PCP) is a physician who provides both the first contact for a person with an undiagnosed health concern as well as continuing care of varied medical conditions, not limited by cause, organ system, or diagnosis. The term ...

s, surgeons, instructors, and other health professionals as well as build up the universities' own institutional capacity (fund-raising, creating linkages are examples of the needs addressed). It is intended that they will provide growing support for hospitals, health centers, and clinics across Ethiopia to address the critical health needs of the population. Funding for this innovation project was procured mainly through two agencies. Th
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
granted $200,000 for the project, while the Toronto Chapter of th
Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association (ENAHPA)
matched the CIDA fund based on a Memorandum of Understanding of mutual support signed in May 2005. ENAHPA will provide $100,000 for the project; the CNIS agreed to provide obstetrical and essential skills training to assist ENAHPA's safe motherhood project in Awassa.

References

External links

* CNIS Website
https://web.archive.org/web/20130704013054/http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Website
http://www.enahpa.org
Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association (ENAHPA) Website

Canadian Journal of Surgery Page.
http://www.cma.ca
Canadian Medical Association Website. {{Authority control Medical and health organizations based in Canada Health charities in Canada