Lay summary
The recent Lancet Commission on Global Surgery estimated that approximately 5 billion people lack access to safe and affordable surgical care when needed. Further to this, an estimated 30% of the global burden of morbidity and mortality could be treated with effective surgical care. The burden of surgical disease in Pacific Island nations such as Vanuatu is significant and patients aiming to access care in the region face unique geographic, cultural and resourcing challenges. This research project aims to use in-patient surveys to investigate the demographics of those who are successfully accessing care in Vanuatu and to articulate, and begin to quantify, the barriers that these patients faced in their efforts to access surgical care. The hope is that furthering our understanding of who is accessing care and what barriers they had to overcome to access care will inform future efforts to make surgical care more accessible in Vanuatu.