THE global economy has received a £1bn boost thanks to the work of a Scottish charity.
Kids Operating Room has given 43,000 children surgery that changed or even saved their lives since 2018.
Today, KidsOR revealed the average economic benefit of each operation in terms of the child’s contribution to GDP is £26,000.
The figures mean the Edinburgh-based organisation has broken the £1bn barrier.
David Cunningham, CEO of KidsOR, said: “When a child has a lifesaving operation, or an operation that cures a simple condition like incontinence, that allows the child to stay in school and grow up to contribute to their nation’s economy.
“We can calculate what the economic benefit to that country was of the child surviving or being able to go to school.
“A core part of our mission is to produce the evidence desperately needed to show that providing surgical care is one of the most impactful investments you can make in global health.”
Cunningham said local data collectors examined the impact of each operation on the child and its family.
This information can be used to calculate the economic benefit to the child’s country in terms of their ability to work.
An estimated 1.7 billion children do not have access to surgical care.
Each KidsOr procedure is estimated to add and average of just over 17 years of working life to each patient.
Cunningham added: “With all of that in mind, we are delighted to have reached the incredible landmark of £1bn in economic benefit generated for our partner nations.
“But our work will not stop here, and we are already working to create many more Operating Rooms and to train many more local surgeons in countries where they are needed the most.”
KidsOR is a Scottish global health charity with bases in Edinburgh, Dundee and Nairobi.
It works directly with local surgeons and their teams across Africa and South America to transform hospital spaces into dedicated operating rooms for children’s surgery.
The patients get child-friendly surroundings and surgeons are provided with the specialist equipment and training they need.
