All-African Surgical Database

Africa’s first continent-wide surgical outcomes registry, launched in 2015.

The First Continent-Wide Surgical Outcomes Registry

Initiated following the Burkina Faso workshop in 2016 and formally established in 2021, the All-African Surgical Database is a continent-wide initiative to standardize and monitor surgical outcomes across African countries. Surgeons in participating countries, including Senegal, Kenya and Burkina Faso. Report elecronically procedural data for operations such as Cesarean section, hysterectomy, and endoscopy using standardized forms. Postoperative follow-up is conducted by trained nurses to track outcomes including febrile morbidity, antibiotic use, and the need for analgesics.

Early publications have demonstrated measurable improvements in surgical safety, efficiency, when NESA’s evidence-based methods were used. Beyond improving clinical outcomes, the registry empowers African surgeons through active participation in collaborative research and is building a robust, growing evidence base to inform surgical practice and health policy across the continent.