Garreth Wood Awarded Honorary Fellowship by COSECSA

Kids Operating Room is proud to share that our co-founder Garreth Wood has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA).

The Fellowship was presented at the 2025 COSECSA Annual Conference, held in Burundi, in recognition of Garreth’s outstanding contribution to strengthening surgical care across east, central and southern Africa.

COSECSA is one of the most influential surgical training institutions on the African continent, responsible for training and accrediting thousands of surgeons and anaesthetists working across the region. Its Honorary Fellowship is awarded to individuals who have made a significant and lasting impact on surgical education, infrastructure and access to care.

Garreth’s work with Kids Operating Room has focused on building sustainable children’s surgical systems, establishing permanent, high-quality paediatric operating rooms in some of the most under-resourced health systems in the world. By working in close partnership with local governments, hospitals and surgical teams, Kids Operating Room supports long-term, locally led surgical care, invests in local capacity, and advocates for children’s surgery at all levels of global health — ensuring children can access safe surgery when they need it most.

Receiving this Fellowship reflects not only Garreth’s personal leadership, but also the collective efforts of surgical partners, engineers, funders and clinicians who share a commitment to improving children’s health through sustainable surgical systems.

Speaking after the award, Garreth said he was deeply honoured by the recognition and proud of the partnerships that have made this work possible.

Kids Operating Room congratulates Garreth on this well-deserved honour and thanks COSECSA for recognising the importance of investing in permanent surgical infrastructure to transform children’s lives across the region.