The Department of Global Health and Social Medicine hosted the first of three meetings of The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. Visit the Program in Global Surgery and Social Change webpage to view the video recordings of this meeting.

The Commission is charged with (1) analyzing the current state of surgical care in low-and middle-income countries, (2) delineating necessities for a properly functioning surgical system, and (3) identifying metrics for evaluation and actions to take to improve the delivery of surgical care. Its work will be represented in a report to be published in The Lancet by the end of 2014. During the Boston meeting, commissioners from more than 15 countries met each other, determined main directions and policy foci for the report, and initiated working groups and will report their progress at the second meeting in May. Dr. John Meara, Associate Professor of Surgery and of Global Health and Social Medicine, is a co-chairman of this commission. In addition, Mr. Andy Leather from Kings College London (UK) and Dr. Lars Hagander from Lund University (Sweden) are co-leaders of the Commission.