Editorial: Global perioperative care in Africa

Perioperative care and critical care medicine are fundamental to providing universal health 1 coverage, yet they remain among the least equitably distributed services worldwide. Today, an 2 estimated 5 billion people lack access to safe, affordable surgical and anesthesia care, 3 underscoring the urgency of system-wide solutions. 1 The Frontiers in Medicine Research Topic 4Global Perioperative Care in Africa brings together a multidisciplinary body of evidence that 5 underscores both the complexity and the promise of advancing surgical, anesthesia, and critical 6 care capacity across low-and middle-income countries. These studies reflect a shared goal: using 7 clinical innovation and research to strengthen health systems and create equity in Africa. 8The Research Topic opens with work that exemplifies the adaptive ingenuity of clinicians and 10 engineers who must respond to resource constraints.