Three-year collaboration aims to support sustainable healthcare systems by providing training to healthcare workers in West Africa on treatment of fractures
30 May 2019 ”“ AO Alliance has today announced a collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust to improve the quality of and access to fracture care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in West Africa.
The West Africa Trauma Education Program aims to improve health outcomes for patients by building longer-term local capacity for injury and fracture care, and sustainably strengthening health systems, including essential surgery. The three-year collaboration will provide specialized education and training for up to 900 national and regional healthcare workers to deliver safe and timely access to care for the injured.
The first year of the program will support educational activities in Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast.
Dr Claude Martin jr., Managing Director, AO Alliance said: “AO Alliance is committed to reducing avoidable mortality and disability in LMICs by introducing enhanced standards of care for fractures. In many cases, countries with the greatest fracture care needs often have the least resources to address the problem. The West Africa Trauma Education Program, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust will provide frontline healthcare workers with added knowledge and skills to better care for the injured.”
Injuries are among the highest causes of death and disability globally[1]and approximately 90% of these occur in low- and middle-income countries, resulting in an estimated US$180 billion in lost productivity annually.[2]Current inequalities in care and treatment mean that patients with life-threatening but survivable injuries are six times more likely to die in LMICs than in a high-income setting.1
Improving access and quality of trauma care has been proven to be effective in saving lives and improving clinical outcomes. It has been estimated that addressing inequalities in trauma care in LMICs could reduce mortality by 15-20 percent, saving more than two million lives each year.1, 2
Alissa Hsu Lynch, Vice President and Essential Surgery EMEA Lead, Johnson & Johnson[3] said: “Out of a global population of seven billion, five billion currently lack access to safe and affordable anesthesia and surgical care. With approximately a third of the world’s global burden of disease being potentially addressable through surgery, lack of access represents one of the most significant global public health challenges in the world today. Todays’ collaboration announcement with AO Alliance is an important step to addressing this burden by ensuring more people are able to access safe, essential and timely surgical care when they need it and brings Johnson & Johnson closer to our five-year goal of ensuring that 50 million people will have had access to safe, essential, and timely surgical care.”
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Notes to Editors:
About AO Alliance
AO Alliance is a developmental non-profit organization dedicated to improving the care of the injured in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Our mission is to reduce human suffering, disability and poverty. We envision a world where timely and appropriate fracture care is accessible to everyone. This goal can be achieved by implementing innovative, sustainable and effective programs that enhance fracture care. For further information on the AO Alliance, please visit: https://ao-alliance.org/
About Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies
As the world’s most comprehensive medical devices business, we are building on a century of experience, merging science and technology, to shape the future of health and benefit even more people around the world. With our unparalleled breadth, depth and reach across surgery, orthopaedics, vision and interventional solutions, we’re working to profoundly change the way care is delivered. We are in this for life. For further information on Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices Companies, please visit https://www.jnjmedicaldevices.com/en-EMEA
Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust
The mission of the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust (Trust) is to make sustainable, long-term differences in human health. It does this by investing in strategic partnerships and innovative solutions that add value to society and impact people’s lives. To achieve this mission, the Trust focuses on three key focus areas: Saving and improving the lives of women and children; Preventing disease in vulnerable populations; and Strengthening the healthcare workforce. The Trust works on these dimensions through long-term partnerships and knowledge transfer.
The Trust was founded in 2007 to manage the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. The Trust is an independent organization that reflects the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies’ commitment to improve the quality of life of the communities that its employees live and work in. It is a Company limited by guarantee and a registered Scottish charity (SC0 17977). For more information about Trust CSR activities and programs in the EMEA region, please visit www.jjcct.org or contact us via email: [email protected]
[1] World Health Organization. Emergency and trauma care. Available at: https://www.who.int/emergencycare/gaci/background/en/ Last accessed 26 April 2019
[2] The Economist Intelligence Unit. At Breaking Point: understanding the impact of musculoskeletal injuries in low- and middle- income countries (p3-11). 2018. Available at: https://www.eiu.com/graphics/marketing/pdf/Injuries-in-LMICs.pdf Last accessed 26 April 2019
[3] employed by Synthes GmbH