Cardiac Arrhythmias in Africa: Epidemiology, Management Challenges, and Perspectives

Africa is experiencing an increasing burden of cardiac arrhythmias. Unfortunately, the expanding need for appropriate care remains largely unmet because of inadequate funding, shortage of essential medical expertise, and the high cost of diagnostic equipment and treatment modalities. Thus, patients...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2019-01, Vol.73 (1), p.100-109
Main Authors: Bonny, Aimé, Ngantcha, Marcus, Scholtz, Wihan, Chin, Ashley, Nel, George, Anzouan-Kacou, Jean-Baptiste, Karaye, Kamilu M, Damasceno, Albertino, Crawford, Thomas C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anticoagulants
Arrhythmia
Cardiac arrhythmia
Cardiology
Cardiomyopathy
Cardiovascular disease
Catheterization
Diagnostic systems
Electrocardiography
Epidemiology
Expenditures
Funding
Health care
Health insurance
Heart
Heart failure
Industrialized nations
Long QT syndrome
Low income groups
Medical prognosis
Mortality
Public health
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Summary:Africa is experiencing an increasing burden of cardiac arrhythmias. Unfortunately, the expanding need for appropriate care remains largely unmet because of inadequate funding, shortage of essential medical expertise, and the high cost of diagnostic equipment and treatment modalities. Thus, patients receive suboptimal care. A total of 5 of 34 countries (15%) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) lack a single trained cardiologist to provide basic cardiac care. One-third of the SSA countries do not have a single pacemaker center, and more than one-half do not have a coronary catheterization laboratory. Only South Africa and several North African countries provide complete services for cardiac arrhythmias, leaving more than hundreds of millions of people in SSA without access to arrhythmia care considered standard in other parts of the world. Key strategies to improve arrhythmia care in Africa include greater government health care funding, increased emphasis on personnel training through fellowship programs, and greater focus on preventive care.
ISSN:0735-1097
1558-3597
DOI:10.1016/j.jacc.2018.09.084