Global Surgery
As part of the world's largest and most broadly based healthcare company, J&J MedTech is transforming the future of medical intervention and pioneering the next frontier of patient care. By tackling some of the world’s most pressing healthcare challenges across surgery, orthopaedics, vision and interventional solutions, we work to save lives and ignite all that’s possible in every body.
Through our Ethicon franchise, we deliver surgical technologies, including advanced digital solutions and robotics. At DePuy Synthes, we maintain one of the most comprehensive orthopaedics portfolios in the world that helps heal and restore movement for the millions of patients we serve, including joint reconstruction and other specialties. Additionally, our Cardiovascular, Stroke and Specialty Solutions business provides healthcare providers with tools for neurovascular care; heart rhythm disorders; ear, nose and throat treatment; and breast reconstruction. Through Johnson & Johnson Vision, we continue to deliver innovation from specialty contact lenses that correct vision and also adapt to changing light conditions or include an antihistamine to help relieve allergic eye itch to intraocular lenses that deliver the widest range of continuous vision for cataracts surgery patients (see section: Vision).
J&J MedTech is committed to elevating the standard of care in surgery by bringing insights, scale, ingenuity and new technologies to meet the needs of more people in underserved communities around the world, using our global surgery capabilities to address healthcare inequities, expand patient access, improve outcomes and reduce health system costs.
State of Global Surgery18
Johnson & Johnson has also supported the treatment of obstetric fistula since we first donated sutures in the 1980s and we have continued to donate sutures to health centers and hospitals in Africa for obstetric fistula repair surgeries for many years. Recognizing the continued unmet need for high-quality surgical care, we created a dedicated Global Surgery team as part of our GPH GPH Global Public Health organization to deliver transformational impact for those suffering with obstetric fistula in sub-Saharan Africa.
We have included an important ambition as part of our Health for Humanity 2025 Goals—to help reduce the number of women suffering from obstetric fistula.19
Health for Humanity 2025 Goals | Global Health Equity
Piloted new surgical instruments in Sierra Leone to increase patient comfort, maximize surgeon visibility and improve safety for the patient and surgeon.
About obstetric fistula
Additional examples of efforts made to reduce the burden of obstetric fistula in 2021 include:
Support in Kenya and Tanzania: We supported obstetric fistula procedures and donated surgical products in Kenya (the Fistula Foundation Treatment Network) and in Tanzania (the Changing Lives, Changing Communities Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation Hospital and The Mabinti Centre, both in Dar es Salaam). As a manufacturer of the specialist suture that allows for accurate repair of obstetric fistula, we aimed to ensure continuity of supply of sutures to rural areas, allowing obstetric fistula repairs to continue, even during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trialing new surgical instruments in Sierra Leone: In 2021, we trialed new surgical instruments for obstetric fistula at the Freedom from Fistula Hospital in Sierra Leone, treating patients with new fistula scissors and a suture/catheter organizer. These improvements aim to provide high-quality instrumentation to increase patient comfort, maximize surgeon visibility, and improve safety for both the patient and the surgeon. By reducing cost and surgery time, the goal is to develop a sustainable sourcing model in resource-limited settings. This development was progressed in collaboration with Dr. Rachel Pope, Assistant Professor, Urology Institute, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, as part of our initiative to develop or improve three surgical instruments used during fistula surgery. Having received positive feedback from surgeons, the new instruments are planned for use in Kenya in 2022.
Obstetric fistula education for surgeons and other HCPs HCPs Healthcare professional : In March 2021, we partnered with Medical & Surgical Skills Institute (MSSI) to provide a two-day obstetric fistula panel, attended by 500 medical professionals from across sub-Saharan Africa, including obstetric fistula surgeons, physicians, nurses, midwives and medical officers. This interactive virtual event was the first time a world-class panel of experts had been pulled together to address key aspects of fistula prevention, repair and rehabilitation in Ghana.
