Kigali, 24 February 2025 – Rwanda is hosting the Pan-African Surgical Conference (PASC2025), bringing together surgeons, healthcare leaders, researchers, and policymakers to address critical gaps in surgical care across Africa.

With Africa having the lowest global ratio of surgeons and anesthetists — 0.5 surgeons and 0.1 anesthetists per 100,000 people—the urgency for action is clear. By 2030, the continent is projected to face over half of the global surgical workforce shortage, leaving African countries with a deficit of six million surgical care providers.

In response, the five-day conference, themed “A Surgeon in Every District Hospital,” focuses on strengthening local surgical systems, increasing surgeon density, and expanding access to essential surgery.

Opening the conference, Prime Minister Dr. Edouard Ngirente underscored the need for affordable surgical services at the community level. He emphasized the importance of expanding surgical training programs, building a resilient workforce, and enhancing health equity to ensure no patient is left behind.

“Surgery is not a luxury—it is a fundamental pillar of healthcare. Yet, 70% of the global population lacks access to safe, timely, and affordable surgical care. Rwanda has long recognized the critical role of surgical services in achieving universal health coverage. Today, we are strengthening our roadmap to expand surgical capacity, invest in training, and guarantee access to life-saving procedures for all,” he stated.

Rwanda is actively addressing this challenge through its 4X4 Program, which aims to quadruple the number of healthcare workers, including surgeons, within four years.

Highlighting the program’s early successes, Minister of Health Dr. Sabin Nsanzimana noted:

“Rwanda currently has only 162 surgeons, yet we need 1,000. It may seem impossible, but it is not. Before the 4X4 program, we graduated just three surgeons per year. This year, we enrolled more than 60 first-year surgical residents.”

Learn more about 4x4 program here. 

The Pan-African Surgical Conference is organized in partnership with Operation Smile (OS), the University of Rwanda (UR), and the Rwanda Surgical Society (RSS). Over the next five days, academics, policymakers, and global surgery experts will collaborate to strengthen networks, empower local providers, share research, advance surgical innovation, and promote surgical equity. 

The conference will also propose context-specific solutions to bridge gaps in surgical care, recommending targeted clinical and policy innovations to boost surgeon density, expand access to essential surgery, and improve health equity across Africa.

Learn more about PASC2025 here