WHO launches safety checklist for surgeons

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The World Health Organization unveiled a proposal Tuesday to reduce the risks of complications and possible death linked to major surgery by urging surgeons to use a safety checklist, according to a study in the British journal The Lancet.

According to the WHO, half of the complications resulting from major surgery may be preventable.

Major surgery occurs at a rate of 234 million medical procedures per year -- one for every 25 people -- and studies indicate that a significant percentage of them result in preventable complications and deaths, the WHO reports.

About one million people die each year following major surgery, according to WHO figures.

Studies have shown that in industrial nations, major complications are reported in three to 16 percent of surgical procedures, according to the WHO, with permanent disability or mortality rates between 0.4 percent and 0.8 percent.

"In developing countries, studies suggest a ...