Ischaemic heart disease, stroke and their cardiometabolic risk factors in Africa: current challenges and outlook for the future.

Ischaemic heart disease, stroke and their cardiometabolic risk factors in Africa: current challenges and outlook for the future. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2020 Dec 11;: Authors: Peer N, Baatiema L, Kengne AP Abstract INTRODUCTION: Although cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are among the leading causes of death in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), prevention is not a priority and effective treatments are not widely available. This perspective discusses the burden, challenges and potential opportunities for improvement of CVD prevention and control efforts in SSA. AREAS COVERED: This paper focuses on ischaemic heart disease and stroke, and their key contributors of obesity, hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidaemia which are well-established, rapidly rising and significant contributors to disease burden in SSA. However, their prevention, detection, treatment and control of are currently disorganised, inconsistent, unreliable and insufficient with most SSA countries not geared to respond to this growing problem. National policies are frequently lacking or, if available, remain poorly implemented, for the control of these conditions. Primary healthcare systems have not adapted to cope with these rising CVD burdens and remain weak, underfunded and under resourced. Numerous barriers at the healthcare service, healthcare provider and patient levels prevent optimal CVD risk factor care. EXPERT OPINION: Innovative approaches such as tas...
Source: Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy - Category: Cardiology Tags: Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther Source Type: research