Re:Thank HN: You helped save 33,241 lives
by danparsonson on Tuesday February 17, 2026 @09:20PM
(#47056336)
Ah well then, please forgive my snark - you're right of course; I misread your intent with your original comment.
Re:Thank HN: You helped save 33,241 lives
by whizzter on Wednesday February 18, 2026 @10:16AM
(#47061885)
There was a link posted here that showed some hernia surgery in Malawi costing 400$ , some others listed via links at 160$ to 1000$.
I honestly have no idea about healthcare costs in countries like that, but assuming the main cost is a surgeon, the reported median salary for surgeons in Sweden is between 110-150k usd yearly. Assuming 200 working days a year and available for something like 4 surgeries a day on average that goes to about 137 usd per surgery. Adjust for Malawi being a far cheaper country but addition of more staff and a cost of 400$ for a relatively minor surgery doesn't seem too far fetched if there isn't middlemen taking a cut (actually googling it seems like middlemen can take a fairly large cut even with those costs).
That said, once again, Watsi is great. I really appreciate all the hard work they've put into making this happen—this is orders of magnitude more impressive and impactful than most projects I've ever seen!