Surgical safety has emerged as a significant global public health concern with reported mortality rates varying tremendously between developing and industrialized countries. This manuscript reviews some of the challenges encountered in providing safe anesthesia care in the humanitarian space; identifies the difficulties with providing high-quality education in developing countries; and describes how audits and quality improvement databases enhance our understanding of the nature and causes of harm to patients to inform the development of strategies for improvement.
© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.