Global surgery at a crossroads: an evening with Professor Emmanuel Makasa

We are delighted to announce that the Global Surgery Policy Unit will be hosting a public lecture with Professor Emmanuel Makasa.

Join us on Wednesday, 8 October - either on the LSE campus or online - for a conversation on how surgical care is evolving to play a critical role in strengthening health systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Professor Makasa is a consultant surgeon and Executive Director of the Centre for Surgical Healthcare Research (CSHR), University Teaching Hospital, Zambia. Reflecting on his extensive experience as an experienced clinician, academic and researcher, Prof. Makasa will evaluate progress in the field of global surgery over the past 10 years since the publication of the Lancet Commission’s report, share key learnings and reflect on the path ahead to achieve the Global Surgery 2030 goals.

Meet the speakers, chair, and moderator

Professor Emmanuel Malabo Makasa is a Global Health and Global Surgery Consultant, an Academic, a Researcher and an experienced Clinician. He is the founding Executive Director of the Southern Africa Development Community’s University of Witwatersrand based regional-hub and collaboration Centre for Surgical Healthcare Improvement (WITSSURG) and its spoke, the Centre for Surgical Healthcare Research (CSHR) in the Republic of Zambia. He chairs SADC’s Technical Experts Working Group on surgical healthcare, the Partnerships Subcommittee of the Pan-African Surgical Health Forum (PASHeF) and he is the current Secretary General of the International Federation of Surgical Colleges (IFSC). Professor Makasa is a member of the Medical Education and Research Board of the Zambia Medical Association (ZMA MERB), he is a committee member of the Zambia Orthopaedics and Trauma Association (ZOTA) and he also on the board of Trustee for the Lusaka Orthopaedics Research and Education Trust (LORET), Community Without Boarders – Zambian Chapter and Africa Directions (AD).

Professor Emmanuel Makasa has extensive experience in global health diplomacy, in regional and national surgical (peri-operative) health policy formulation and implementation and he has worked as a senior health systems manager, as honorary lecturer and as a specialist clinician in Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery. He is passionate about improving surgical healthcare in LMICs and has a track record of mobilising and coordinating multiple state and none-state actor stakeholders and partners within the United Nations Systems, in the Global Health/Global Surgery community, health professional groups and within clinical care around surgical systems and service delivery improvement. He has has published on safe, timely, equitable, appropriate and affordable universal access to surgical (peri-operative) healthcare in Africa and beyond.

Chair: Dr Martilord Ifeanyichi is a medical doctor, health systems economist, and pharmaco-economist. He currently works as an Assistant Professorial Research Fellow at LSE Health. His research interest lies in the economics and dynamic complexities of surgical systems in low and middle-income countries, and he possesses extensive field experience in conducting empirical hospital- and community-level studies in sub-Saharan Africa. He has published in the International Journal of Health Policy and Management (IJHPM), BMC Health Services Research, BMJ Global Health, Journal of Global Health, PLOS ONE, and BMJ Quality & Safety.

Moderator: Miss Rachel Hargest is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Cardiff, Consultant Surgeon, and Co-Director of the Global Surgery Policy Unit. She is a council member and former trustee of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and Royal Society of Medicine. She has won multiple awards for excellence in both clinical practice (BMJ Gastroenterology team of the year award 2015, NHS Wales award for improving patient care 2011) and training (Silver Scalpel 2017, FST Medal 2019).

About the Global Surgery Policy unit

The Unit is a unique and strategic collaboration between LSE Health and the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England). Established to advance global public health, surgical, obstetric and anaesthesia care, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries, the goal of the GSPU is to strengthen and contribute to the evidence-base for global surgical care through policy research and dialogue, capacity-building partnerships and advocacy initiatives aimed at informing decision-makers and empowering communities.

Learn more about the GSPU's work.

LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.