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On the margins of 78th World Health Assembly in May 2025, Global Surgical Initiatives (GSI) and Proximie announced a landmark partnership to advance digitally enabled, sustainable surgical care across Africa, starting with the launch of a Proximie-powered, AWS-enabled Digital Surgical Hub at GSI’s flagship surgical care center, the Kyabirwa Surgical Center (KSC) in Jinja, Uganda. This next-generation facility is more than just a technological leap. KSC is a fully renewable energy-powered (solar and collected rainwater), award-winning, and self-sustaining surgical center designed to deliver essential outpatient care to some of the most underserved populations in Uganda.
GSI is a nonprofit organization transforming access to safe, quality, and affordable surgical care delivery in low-resource settings through sustainable, replicable and data-driven surgical care models. With Proximie’s advanced real-time telepresence, data connectivity, and application services and AWS’s cloud infrastructure, GSI’s flagship center now joins a growing ecosystem of Digital Communities of Practice (dCoPs); a dynamic network that is redefining how surgical expertise is shared and scaled across East Africa.
“We are building a future where surgery is not determined by geography,” said Dr. Shannon Shibata-Germanos, Head of Global Health at Proximie. “This partnership brings connectivity into isolation and gives local surgical teams the tools, support, and visibility they need to lead. It’s not just about access. It’s about agency. By leveraging GSI’s incredible global network of surgical expertise, from Mount Sinai Health System and beyond, we are unlocking new possibilities for mentorship, knowledge exchange, and world-class care, right where it’s needed most.”
The launch event took place at the G4 Alliance WHA Side Event on May 17th 2025, where leaders from the African Union, Ministries of Health, NGOs, Academics, Clinicians and global surgical experts gathered to share a collective vision: to build a scalable, digitally connected, and government-aligned model of surgical equity.
“Surgical equity is not a theory, it’s happening in real-time,” said Sarah Hubar-Fisher, CEO of Global Surgical Initiatives. “Our flagship surgical care center, the Kyabirwa Surgical Center, proves that a fully sustainable, high-quality surgical facility can thrive off-grid. With Proximie, we’re not only expanding access, we’re creating a replicable model for the continent and beyond.”
Proximie’s Digital Community of Practice connects surgical teams in real-time for live case mentorship, post-operative review, and continuous education in procedures like laparoscopy, endoscopy, trauma, and esophageal cancer care.
“This partnership is about future-proofing systems of care,” said Dr. Michael Mwachiro, President of the Surgical Society of Kenya, Chair of the Education, Scientific and Research Committee at COSECSA, and Steering Committee Member for Global Health at Proximie. “Approximately 29% of the population in sub-Saharan Africa lives more than two hours from emergency public hospital care, including surgical services. That’s not just a statistic, it’s a call to action. By integrating Proximie’s digital interface into training and education ecosystems such as GSI’s Kyabirwa Surgical Center in Uganda, Kenya, and across East Africa, we’re bringing surgical expertise closer to where people live, closing the gap with innovation, and ensuring that lifesaving care is never out of reach.”
Joining the conversation virtually over Proximie from Jinja, Dr. Joseph Okello Damoi, lead surgeon at GSI’s Kyabirwa Surgical Center, offered a real-time walkthrough of the center and shared how digital mentorship will directly transform surgical training and patient outcomes on the ground.
This partnership aligns with broader regional goals of strengthening health systems through connectivity, innovation, and sustainability. GSI and Proximie’s joint commitment to capacity building, digital mentorship, and public-private partnership models paves the way for a new era in surgical access; one built for the continent, by the continent.
“This is more than a tech deployment,” concluded Dr. Shibata-Germanos. “It’s a movement to build surgical systems that are inclusive, resilient, and designed to last.
