The Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly declared that all human beings are entitled to certain universal, inalienable, indivisible rights, including access to adequate health care, regardless of their socioeconomic status or location (asamonitor.pub/2YWFntT; asamonitor.pub/31Pk9jE). The right to health implies access to all care, including anesthesia. Yet, there is an urgent need to address large gaps in anesthesia services globally. Examples of the anesthesia care gap include:
In order to achieve local and global health goals to improve patient care and access to safe anesthesia and perioperative medicine, the following measures must be pursued:
Despite these care gaps, remarkable work is being carried out by anesthesiology societies around the world. The World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA), a nonprofit organization representing anesthesiologists in 150 countries, and the World Health Organization (WHO) have developed the WHO-WFSA International Standards for a Safe Practice...
