InciSioN Global / Global Engagement / Health Systems
Acute care is a continuum.
Every link matters.
From the first response in a community to emergency stabilization, critical support, an operation and recovery, saving lives depends on a connected system. Explore WHO’s Acute Care Action Network and why InciSioN contributes a global surgery perspective.
Our engagement: InciSioN participates in ACAN, with eight representatives across its four working-group areas.
01 / Why this matters
Safe surgery starts long before the operating theatre.
A patient may need transport, triage, emergency treatment, anaesthesia, surgery, critical care and follow-up. The patient experiences one journey—even when services are managed by different teams.
Simplified educational pathway based on WHO’s emergency-care system framing; not an official five-stage WHO classification.
02 / The ECO continuum
Three interdependent fields. One system.
Emergency care
Rapid recognition, assessment, stabilization and referral for acute illness and injury.
Critical care
Life-sustaining treatment and monitoring when patients experience or risk severe organ dysfunction.
Operative care
Surgery, anaesthesia and perioperative services—including time-sensitive operations and postoperative support.
03 / World Health Assembly
WHA76.2: a mandate for integrated ECO care
Adopted on 30 May 2023, WHA76.2 recognizes emergency, critical and operative care as central to universal health coverage and protection from health emergencies. It calls for integrated planning, equitable access, workforce development and resilient service delivery.
Essential surgery and anaesthesia
Timely emergency care
Integrated emergency, critical and operative care
Decision to develop a global strategy
Adoption of the 2026–2035 strategy
04 / The WHO network
What is ACAN?
The WHO-managed Acute Care Action Network connects participant organizations around the implementation, evaluation and advocacy needed for stronger acute care, particularly in lower-resource health systems. Its collaboration does not replace national leadership or confer WHO implementation authority on participants.
Strengthening services
Support the appropriate use and spread of WHO acute-care tools.
Empowering communities
Link community first response, care seeking and formal services.
Improving clinical quality
Support facility-based improvement and safer patient care.
Enhancing access
Clarify which services and referral functions belong at different levels.
Informing action
Assess systems and translate evidence into workable priorities.
Four areas of collaborative work
WHO tools & resources
Supporting implementation and learning across care settings.
Community empowerment
Connecting first response with appropriate formal pathways.
Clinical quality improvement
Strengthening facility processes and feedback.
Advocacy & resource mobilization
Making integrated care visible in financing and policy discussions.
05 / Foundational tools
Community response and clinical first-contact care
Community First Aid Response (CFAR)
Designed for designated community responders linked to a health system. Recognition, safety, simple appropriate actions, activation and handover are central.
Basic Emergency Care (BEC)
A structured course for first-contact health workers using systematic assessment, including the ABCDE approach. It does not replace professional scope or supervision.
07 / Country spotlight
From global dialogue to a Ghana-based exploration.
In collaboration with InciSioN Ghana, InciSioN Global is exploring locally informed, simulation-supported approaches to sustaining first-contact emergency-care learning and stronger connections across the care pathway.
Developed with attention to Ghana’s context, existing emergency services and local ownership. Specific delivery partners, locations and implementation arrangements will be announced only when confirmed.
08 / Explore further
Learn the system. Explore the evidence.
CFAR & BEC — learning guide
Who each programme is for, what it teaches and where official WHO material can be accessed.
Ghana — an emerging initiative
Why Ghana, what is being explored with InciSioN Ghana and what has not yet been announced.