RCSI was delighted to host the 12th Meeting of the Permanent Council of the G4 Alliance for Surgical, Obstetric, Trauma and Anaesthesia (SOTA) care from 11-14 November. Over 80 delegates from 20+ countries attended in person, and they were joined by members of the RCSI community and wider global SOTA community in Ireland.  A further 130 participants joined remotely from 27 countries.

The G4 Alliance's mandate is to create greater political priority for SOTA care, and ultimately to mobilise resources to support neglected surgical patients.

Key speakers at the meeting included Dr Ruben Ayala, President of the G4 Alliance Permanent Council and CMO of Operation Smile; Dr John Sampson, John Hopkins University; Dr Catherine Mohr, President Intuitive Foundation; Dr Janet Martin, WHO; Dr Nobhojit Roy, surgeon and public health expert; Dr Cheng-Har Yip, President, International Society of Surgery; Prof George Shorten, President, College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland.  

RCSI Institute of Global Surgery speakers and moderators during the meeting included Dr Paul Okeny, StAR PhD candidate; Dr Jakub Gajewski, Programme Director - Research; Eric O'Flynn, Programme Director - Education, Training and Advocacy; and Deirdre Mangaoang, Programme Director - Operations.  

The meeting was opened by Prof Ruairi Brugha, interim Chair of Global Surgery at RCSI and a welcome message was provided by Colm Brophy, Minister of State for Overseas Development Aid.  Professor Laura Viani, President of RCSI kindly hosted a reception and dinner for all delegates and guests on Saturday evening. 

On Sunday evening, Dr Bisola Onajin-Obembe, Consultant Anaesthesiologist and Assistant Professor of Anaesthesia at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria and Board Member of World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists (WFSA) was elected President of the G4 Alliance Permanent Council for 2023-2024.

The meeting was sponsored by RCSI's current global surgery partners BD and TEKenable, and by Fáilte Ireland's "Meet in Ireland" programme.