The Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence (ASAP) is proud to be an integrated society of the International Society of Surgery (ISS). Thank you for your interest in membership - we'd by happy to have you join us in this important work. Membership information is available through the ISS website; please view the link below.
Lancet Commission on Global Surgery
The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery has transformed its 2015 seminal publication into an ongoing process to bring about progress towards universal access to safe, timely, affordable surgical and anesthesia care. Visit their website for the latest data, toolkits, and other resources.
The Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence (ASAP) is a proud founding member of the Global Alliance for Surgery, Obstetrics, Trauma and Anesthesia (G4 Alliance). This collective 90+ member organizations is dedicated to advocating for the neglected surgical patient, and the integration of surgical care into the global health and development agendas.
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization's Global Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care (GIEESC)
convenes health professionals, public health experts, health authorities and local and international organizations to
share knowledge, advise policy and develop educational resources to reduce the burden of death and disability from conditions amenable to surgical treatment.
President's Message
The Alliance for Surgery and Anesthesia Presence (ASAP), founded in 2008, is devoted to advancing safe affordable surgery and anesthesia care when needed for the majority of the world’s population who can’t access it today. We are the only global surgery organization that unites concerned clinicians from different fields and at all stages of their careers, throughout studentship, traineeship and specialist practice. We use these lateral and longitudinal networks to foster inspiration, mentoring, advice and peer support, and create the future generations of global surgery leaders.
The commitment to global surgery by the International Society of Surgery’s executive has enabled such community among today’s and tomorrow’s practitioners. As its integrated society specifically for the community interested in global surgery, ASAP is embracing the ISS-SIC’s decision to offer membership for anesthesiologists, obstetricians and gynecologists, and specialist theatre staff, and now to medical students and residents.
With our origins in the Global Burden of Surgical Disease Working Group, and through our members’ participation in the 3rd Edition of the Disease Control Priorities, the Lancet Commission, several WHO Resolutions, and the G4 Alliance, ASAP retains its commitment to science and research-based improvement. In the past two years we have supported global surgery conferences with the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA) in Kigali, Rwanda, and the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia, USA. And of the ASAP scientific program at this year’s World Congress of Surgery in Krakow, more than half of the invited speakers came from low-income and middle-income countries.
I must congratulate our immediate past president, Kathleen Casey, on these achievements, and a program that showcased the rich ecosystem of global surgery including experts in surgery, anesthesia, obstetrics and trauma, education and training, financing and surgical systems, public health and real life implementation stories. Kathleen has also secured a firm foundation for ASAP, through countless weeks revising the ASAP constitution, working on membership reform, and negotiating partnerships with societies such as the Association of Women Surgeons, the International Association of Student Surgical Societies, and the Global Initiative for Children’s Surgery.
In the next two years we will continue to support the essential role of surgery in Universal Health Coverage by growing our membership, building our networks and our community, and fostering the relationships that are so special in global surgery, between different specialties, people in different countries, and people at different ends of their careers.
Prof Russell Gruen
President, ASAP
Canberra, Australia
Get Engaged in ASAP
Reach out to us if you are interested in serving on the ASAP Board or a committee. Current needs: ASAP Communications and Membership Committees.
Contact us at asaptoday@gmail.com
Host an ASAP Meeting
Universities, colleges and professional societies have successfully hosted ASAP meetings since 2008. If your institution is interested in hosting a future Annual ASAP meeting, send an email request to asaptoday@gmail.com
Members can log in directly to the ISS Website here.
The Global Surgery Foundation
The GSF targets multiple aspects of the surgical care system, including research and evaluation; education and training; planning and policy development; equipment and infrastructure procurement – with the under-pinning of a Global Surgery Fund to provide innovative and sustainable financial solutions.
Launched January 2020