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10 Years of Advocacy – A Future of Promise

From advocacy to innovation, discover how we’re transforming surgical care worldwide.

Closing the Surgical Gap for 5 Billion People

Since 2015, the G4 Alliance has united over 70 organizations to advocate for safe, timely, and affordable surgical, obstetric, trauma, and anesthesia (SOTA) care. We’re not just talking about access — we’re building it.

Operative Encounter Registry (OER)

Collecting real-time surgical data to improve outcomes in LMICs.

Community of Practice (CoP)

A global virtual support network empowering healthcare providers.

Fellowship Program

We support emerging global surgery leaders with mentorship, training, and real-world advocacy experience.

Our Working Groups: Innovation in Action

Specialized teams leading global solutions for safer surgical care.

Burns Working Group

Launched World Burns Week in 95 countries. Created the Burns Care Map for global access to treatment.

Latin America & Caribbean Working Group

Monthly Spanish/English webinars uniting regional leaders. Led advocacy to influence WHO health policy in the Americas.

ISGQSSA Working Group

Published the first global surgical care standards for LMICs. Influencing decentralized, quality-first surgical systems.

Operative Encounter Registry (OER) Working Group

Developed the WHO Operative Encounter Module. Driving data-powered improvements in surgical care access.

US Government Resource Mobilization Working Group

Led successful advocacy to include surgical care in USAID appropriations language — a first in U.S. history. Mobilized 16 U.S. surgical societies to support funding for surgical system strengthening.

Asia Working Group

Published peer-reviewed articles on SOTA priorities and workforce case studies across Asian LMICs. Collaborated with ASAR and Nivarana to amplify grassroots stories of neglected surgical patients and providers.

See where our active projects, partners, and training programs are

Policy Advocacy for Border Health

Strengthening Surgical Systems

Regional Health Partnerships

Building Regional Operative Care Strategies

Advancing Safe Maternal Surgery

Empowering Surgical Providers

Shaping Global Surgical Policies

Expanding Surgical Access

Training for Safer Surgery

Advocacy at the Frontlines

Global Program - InterSurgeon

Through the InterSurgeon platform, G4 Alliance links +1,100 surgeons, nurses, and institutions worldwide — building a global support network for safer, more equitable surgical care.

We choose to advocate for the neglected surgical patient not because it is easy, but because it is hard.

Gail Rosseau Chair of the Board
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“In underserved communities, access to surgery can mean the difference between life and death. The G4 Alliance helped amplify our voices and transform our work into policy. It’s more than advocacy — it’s real change.”
Dr. Hadiza Galadanci
Dr. Hadiza GaladanciAward-Winning Leader in Surgical Care – Nigeria
“Through MOMENTUM Safe Surgery, we connected the dots between family planning and surgical care. The G4 Alliance helped break the silos that kept women from receiving the comprehensive care they deserve.”
Vandana TripathiDirector, MOMENTUM Safe Surgery – USA/Global
“With G4 Alliance support, we’ve trained local providers, repaired instruments, and saved lives. They champion the kind of hands-on work that changes health systems from the inside out.”
Dr. Sengua Koipapi
Dr. Sengua KoipapiGrassroots Surgical Leader – Papua New Guinea
“Before the training, broken tools meant canceled surgeries. Now, with G4 and Smile Train, we fix what’s broken and operate without fear. Our hospital runs better, and our patients are safer.”
SIRT Training ParticipantSmile Train – Abuja, Nigeria
“The G4 Alliance didn’t just bring policymakers — they brought us. Our voices, our experiences, our realities were heard. That’s how real policy is made.”
Participant, Border Region SymposiumLatin America Health Advocate – Ecuador
“I used to feel isolated. Now I meet monthly with peers from across the world, learning together. Thanks to the G4 Alliance’s Community of Practice, I feel supported, informed, and ready to make change.”
Surgical Nurse – UgandaProject ECHO & Community of Practice Member
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2025 Impact report

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    Washington, DC 20036 USA

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  • contact@theg4alliance.org

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The Burns Working Group, launched in 2022, has led two key initiatives to facilitate collaboration between stakeholders concerned with burn injury to advance global health equity. The working group was instrumental in envisioning and hosting the inaugural World Burns Week in November 2024, in partnership with a global coalition of regional burn societies, burn survivors, and NGOs. With participation from thousands of individuals in 95 countries, the week featured a daily online event and in-person activities to raise awareness and drive change in burn prevention, treatment, and survivorship. The Burns Working Group also conceptualized the Burns Care Map on InterSurgeon, supported by the International Society for Burn Injuries. The Burns Care Map is a publicly available, interactive global database of health centers, organizations, and institutions focused on burn

injuries.

The Latin America and Caribbean Working Group promotes knowledge sharing and collaboration among organizations operating in the region, expanding the reach of G4 Alliance advocacy. They have led the adoption of simultaneous interpretation at G4 Alliance events and the translation of publications and resources, including the Operative Encounter Registry. The group also hosts a monthly webinar series and discussion in Spanish and English, with presenters from G4 Alliance member organizations and guests from regional organizations. In 2024, the working group convened G4 Alliance member organizations as part of an advocacy campaign led by the Corporacion Latinoamericana para la Salud, supporting the adoption of a strategy for emergency, critical, and operative care by the Regional Committee of WHO for the Americas.

To address the need for evidence-based strategies in expanding surgical services, the International Standards and Guidelines for Quality Safe Surgery and Anaesthesia (ISGQSSA) Working Group developed the first international consensus recommendations on the prioritization and distribution of surgical care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In partnership with the Fijian Ministry of Health, the group convened in Suva, Fiji, and used a modified Delphi process to engage 53 experts from 27 LMICs. The resulting 26 consensus statements— published in BMJ Global Health—offer guidance on decentralization, implementation priorities, and guiding principles for governments and international partners. The working group also published best practice recommendations in Frontiers in Health Services to support locally led, quality-focused surgical system development. These are the only consensus-driven, LMIC-informed recommendations of their kind.

The development of the WHO Operative Encounter module was conducted by the G4 Alliance Operative Encounter Registry Working Group under the guidance of the WHO Department for Integrated Health Services Clinical Services and Systems unit. Through collaboration with partners—including the African Perioperative Research Group, the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town, and the Clinical Officer Surgical Training in Africa (COST-Africa) study—and its own 2017 global Delphi process and pilot study, the working group provided extensive technical inputs into the development of an operative module on the WHO’s free, online, and open-source Clinical Registry platform. Supported by a virtual G4 Alliance Community of Practice, based on the ECHO Project platform, the WHO Operative Encounter module will enable routine surgical case data collection for quality improvement and data-driven advocacy.

In 2020, the US Government Resource Mobilization Working Group, under the leadership of the G4 Alliance member Mobile Surgery International, secured the first-ever language on surgical care in the US government appropriations explanatory report for the US Agency for International Development (USAID), recommending that the agency prioritize treatment of neglected surgical conditions. In 2021 and 2022, the working group successfully expanded this language to address the strengthening of surgical systems through national planning. In 2022, a letter of support was signed by 16 US surgical societies, advocating for funding to support the implementation of the language. 

The Asia Working Group of the G4 Alliance started in 2022 and now has 60+ individuals representing organizations across 10+ countries. Over time, the group has expanded its membership, scope of collaborative work, and capacity for impact. Members and fellows of the group have consistently produced high-quality articles in peer-reviewed journals focusing on the roadmap to achieve universal surgical, obstetric, trauma, and anaesthesia (SOTA) care in South Asia, policy prioritization of SOTA care issues in South and Southeast Asia, and successful implementation case studies for workforce strengthening in Asian LMICs. One of the most important advocacy contributions of the working group has been highlighting the grassroots stories of neglected surgical patients and providers from Asian LMICs in collaboration with the Association for Socially Applicable Research (ASAR) and Nivarana.