ReSurge International is proud to announce a dramatic expansion to scale work in East Africa, expanding access to life-changing reconstructive surgery in Uganda and Tanzania nearly sevenfold.
Beginning in 2026, ReSurge will grow from serving approximately 300 patients annually in the two countries, to more than 2,000 each year, marking nearly 600% growth in patients served. The expansion supports direct patient care through free, specialized reconstructive surgeries, and for the first time free comprehensive rehabilitative occupational therapy to support full functional recovery. In parallel, the expansion will invest in long-term local capacity by training anesthesiologists, nurses, pediatricians, and occupational therapists. This pioneering expansion is supported by a transformational grant from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.
“This is a landmark moment for ReSurge and an enormous step forward for the communities we serve. This expansion will be truly transformational in Tanzania and Uganda, two priority ReSurge hub training centers in the region, by bringing life-changing reconstructive surgical care to communities that have gone without it for far too long.” – Claire Lachance, ReSurge President and CEO
Watch: Meet Jacob, a burn survivor in Tanzania who received surgical care from ReSurge in 2021. This expansion will enable us to serve seven times more patients like Jacob.
Strengthening Care Where the Need Is Greatest
Globally, an estimated 5 billion people lack access to safe, affordable, and timely surgical care. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 93% of the population does not have adequate access to these services. In Uganda and Tanzania, only a handful of reconstructive surgeons serve tens of millions of people, leaving burns, congenital anomalies, traumatic injuries, and disabling scars untreated for years or even lifetimes. Women, girls, and young adults are disproportionately affected, particularly by cooking-related burns, road traffic accidents, gender-based violence, and workplace injuries.
ReSurge’s expansion is anchored by two long-standing partner hubs: Kiruddu National Referral Hospital in Kampala, Uganda, and St. Gaspar’s Hospital in Itigi, Tanzania with additional training activities at Muhimbili National Hospital and CCBRT Hospital. In Uganda, Kiruddu serves as the nation’s only national burn center. As mining and industrial sectors expand without proportional emergency infrastructure, strengthening this center is critical to ensuring the country can respond not only to current burn cases, but to future large-scale workplace injuries. In Tanzania, access to reconstructive surgical care is even more limited, particularly in rural regions. Vast areas of the country have no resident reconstructive surgeons, forcing patients to travel long distances or forgo care altogether. These sites are the only residency training programs in each country, representing both the urgency of the need and the opportunity for systems-level change.
Watch: Meet the ReSurge Reconstructive Surgeons, Dr. Rose Alenyo and Dr. Seif Nuru
“This project is a lifeline for marginalized patients in rural Tanzania. It will break down the barrier of poverty to access surgery today, and train the next generation of local surgeons to ensure this life-changing care continues tomorrow. Patients who have suffered for years due to complex conditions and could never afford the journey or the procedure at a tertiary hospital, will now receive the life-changing care they need to regain dignity and function.” — Dr. Seif Nuru, Surgeon, St. Gaspar Hospital, Itigi, Tanzania
A Multiplier Effect: One Trained Surgeon Impacts 400,000 Patients Over Time
ReSurge’s proven model strengthens surgical systems for long-term impact. A recent study found that a single ReSurge-trained reconstructive surgeon will go on to impact an average of 10,000 patients over their career. When that surgeon becomes a trainer, they are projected to impact more than 400,000 patients through the surgeons and clinical teams they mentor. Last fiscal year alone, ReSurge trained more than 8,700 medical professionals and impacted over 30,000 patients in 16 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This expansion represents a strategic acceleration of ReSurge’s model, strengthening two training hubs in a high-need region and driving long-term, systems-level improvement in surgical care.
Kiruddu National Referral Hospital is the only burn center in all of Uganda
For media inquires reach out to: anna@resurge.org
