About this Series: From its inception, the Disease Control Priorities series has focused attention on delivering efficacious health interventions that can result in dramatic reductions in mortality and disability at relatively modest cost. The approach has been multidisciplinary, and the recommendations have been evidence-based, scalable, and adaptable in multiple settings. Better and more equitable health care is the shared responsibility of governments and international agencies, public and private sectors, and societies and individuals, and all of these partners have been involved in the development of the series. Disease Control Priorities, third edition (DCP3) builds on the foundation and analyses of the first and second editions (DCP1 and DCP2) to further inform program design and resource allocation at the global and country levels by providing an up-to-date comprehensive review of the effectiveness of priority health interventions. In addition, DCP3 presents systematic and comparable economic evaluations of selected interventions, packages, delivery platforms, and policies based on newly developed economic methods. DCP3 presents its findings in nine individual volumes addressed to specific audiences. The volumes are structured around packages of conceptually related interventions, including those for maternal and child health, cardiovascular disease, infectious disease, and surgery. The volumes of DCP3 will constitute an essential resource for countries as they consider how best to improve health care, as well as for the global health policy community, technical specialists, and students. About this Volume: Essential Surgery demonstrates surgery's contribution to global public health. Data on the surgical burden of congenital anomalies, disease, disability, and trauma are presented, along with health and economic analyses of procedures, platforms, and packages to improve care in settings with severe budget limitations. Readers will gain comprehensive knowledge of the challenges and successes found in implementing surgical care strategies within low- and middle-income countries. Practitioners and researchers demonstrate that even small hospitals can deliver effective basic surgical services, and health care delivery structures already in place can be leveraged to provide affordable and quality surgical care.