Nordic Life Science 1
CASE // INTER-PROFESSIONAL COLLABORATION ON A COL
D WINTER DAY in November 2018, the Swedish Neurosurgical Association held its annual meeting, and officially decided to support an emerging new initiative driven by a handful of individuals in West Africa and in Sweden. The goal of this initiative was clear: to establish inter-professional collaboration with hospitals in Africa to train neurosurgeons in microsurgical techniques and improve perioperative care for neurosurgical patients. T E X T B Y H E L E N A S T R I G Å R D P H O T O B Y S A NC S OME YEARS PRIOR to the annual meeting, Magnus Tisell, a neurosurgeon at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, had traveled to Malawi. This trip opened his eyes to the severe shortage of surgically trained medical professionals and the direct impact this had on mortality rates in the country. He observed similar conditions across many West African nations – a few surgeons serving populations of millions. More or less at the same time that Magnus started to form an idea to take action, neurosurgeons Mats Ryttlefors and David Revesz crossed paths with Dr Enoch Uche in Enugu, Nigeria and Dr Teddy Totimeh from Ghana. Together, they took the first steps that led to the establishment of the Swedish African Neurosurgery Collaboration (SANC). Building Networks SANC began with an exploratory phase when board members traveled to four hospitals in West Africa (Ghana/Nigeria) to build networks and assess potential partners. This pilot region provided the foundation for sustainable collaboration. An initial collaborative project was established with the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) in Enugu, which had access to essential surgical resources, intensive care, and skilled local professionals. Political stability and logistical factors, such as an international airport, also made Enugu a suitable choice. SANC’s first volunteer mission took place in March 2019, with two neurosurgeons and four nurses traveling to Enugu. Over a period of two weeks, they worked closely with the local team, providing daily neurosurgical nursing lectures. Approximately thirty nurses in the ward and intensive care unit completed a two-week training course. NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 81