Cardiac Surgery in Variable-Resource Contexts: Overly Ambitious or Long Overdue?

Six billion people lack access to safe, timely, and affordable cardiac surgical care due to limited access, capacity, and financial support. Noncommunicable diseases and surgical care receive a small fraction of global health funding, compared with infectious diseases, despite evidence supporting the effectiveness and socioeconomic benefits of expanding global access. This article reviews the ethical arguments for resource allocation for cardiac surgical care worldwide, with a particular focus on rural and remote settings in low- and middle-income countries, supported by country-level case studies from Ghana and India.