Health System Needs to Establish Cardiac Surgery Centers

Thorac Cardiovasc Surg DOI: 10.1055/s-0040-1721395Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of mortality worldwide, responsible for nearly 18 million deaths each year. More than 80% of these take place in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where access to cardiac surgical services is scarce. Approximately 93% of the LMIC population, or six billion people worldwide, are estimated to lack access to safe, timely, and affordable cardiac surgical care as a result of workforce, infrastructure, financial, and quality barriers. Various models have been proposed and attempted to establish cardiac surgery centers in LMICs; however, only some have been successful in achieving sustainable local services. Here, we describe the workforce, infrastructure, financial, and political needs and considerations from a health systems perspective to establish a cardiac surgery center. [...] Georg Thieme Verlag KG Rüdigerstraße 14, 70469 Stuttgart, GermanyArticle in Thieme eJournals: Table of contents  |  Abstract  |  Full text
Source: The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon - Category: Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Authors: Tags: Short Communications Source Type: research