Knowledge and practice of Nepalese doctors on reutilization of medical/surgical tools from developed nations: a national level online cross-sectional survey

Background: A manifold cause of global disparity in medical and surgical care exists, among which lack of access to proper biomedical equipment including surgical tools are a recurrent theme. Use and reuse of such donated tools are common in low resource settings including countries like Nepal; however, there is a lack of adequate data and less has been explored. Through this nationwide study, we aimed to discover the knowledge of donated medical and surgical devices and the practice of reusing single-use equipment by Nepalese medical practitioners and surgeons. Methods: An online, questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted using SurveyMonkey from October 2020 through January 2021. The link was sent to target respondents via email and social media and responses were recorded. Data processing and analysis were done using the same platform. Results: Among 466 respondents, 349 completed the survey. Around 81.5% recorded that their institute has never received medical devices or donations in the past, while 18.34% believed they had received such commodities. Most of the donations were received from countries like the United States, China, Japan, and India. Around 24% of the respondents reused the tools meant for single-use and only 5% communicated with the donors. Commodities like laparoscopic sets, sutures, dialysis machines, magnetic resonance imaging machines, surgical retractors, face masks, sanitizers, personal protective equipment, endoscopy apparatus, etc., were received. The majority of them were concerned about national guidelines regarding donating reusable tools which might not be acceptable through custom rules of the country, although the facilitation of functional yet unused tools is always welcome in the underserved regions of Nepal. Conclusion: Nepalese medical professionals had adequate knowledge about the donated medical devices and only a few of them had practiced reusing single-use equipment. Mutual cooperation between donors and recipients is one of the most important aspects of safe medical/surgical tools delivery.