Inguinal hernia is the commonest treatable surgical condition worldwide. Untreated hernias kill 50,000 men each year in Africa.

One billion people worldwide are without healthcare and one billion have minimal access to healthcare. Eleven percent of the global burden of disease can be treated by surgery. In rural Africa caesarean section and hernia are the commonest elective surgical procedures. However, both of these operations are carried out much less frequently than required with the result that neglected hernias cause mortality (from strangulation) and physical incapacity. Since hernias are so common this burden of neglect falls disproportionately on hernia sufferers.

Unlike many surgical procedures, a simple, cheap 30 minute hernia operation returns the patient to full health. The modern and very effective technique is to repair the hernia with by using which can be very cheap and affordable (sometimes using mosquito mesh), and has given excellent results in thousands of patients.

The lifetime risk for hernia of men is 27% and for women 3%. There are an estimated 6.3 million untreated inguinal hernias in sub-Saharan Africa. The prevalence in rural areas of Northern Ghana is more than 10 times the predicted level because of the near total neglect of hernia surgery for many years. This has resulted in many men suffering large incapacitating hernias which limit their daily activities. Every African living in a remote village can tell a story about a relative or village member who died due to the untreated complications of a hernia. In rural areas more men suffer from hernia than suffer from HIV.

Hernia Surgery is a SUSTAINED healthcare intervention that not only benefits the individual affected but the entire community by allowing people to return to providing for their whole family.