Authors’ reply: Which surgical operations should be performed in district hospitals in East, Central and Southern Africa? Results of a survey of regional clinicians

We thank Priyanch Nathani et al. for the evidence from India that endorses the importance of providing essential surgery at district hospitals (DHs), following our article [1]. We welcome the analysis linking our survey results with population-based needs for essential surgical operations from India and agree with the need for more evidence-based strategies to help DHs to meet the surgical needs of populations. Our study was the first empirical attempt to define an essential district-level surgical package for East, Central and Southern Africa, which could be replicated in India and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).