Investing in surgical site infection control toward safe surgery and universal health coverage

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Surgical site infection (SSI) is a common but preventable complication after surgery and is a major cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality in low-and middle-income countries. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) rates are also high in the setting. To scale up access to surgical care toward achieving the goals of universal health coverage, several countries in the setting have created surgical plans. These plans aim to significantly increase surgical volumes. These countries must scale up infection prevention and control programs at the same pace to avoid uncontrollable increases in SSI and AMR rates. Implementation of the safe surgery checklist needs to be scaled up to support SSI prevention and control programs.