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Cardiovascular medicine and research in sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and opportunities

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Africa is witnessing an epidemic of cardiovascular disease (CVD), with staggering morbidity and mortality. The spectrum of CVD includes hypertension, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, atherosclerotic disease, congenital heart disease and tuberculous pericarditis. Opportunities exist to alter the trajectory of CVD epidemiology but require committed policy makers, functional health systems and an engaged citizenry.

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Acknowledgements

P.N. is the president of the African Heart Network. M.N. and F.H. are the co-directors of AfricaPCR. D.J. is the president of the South African Heart Association (SA Heart). S.S. is the president of the Pan-African Society of Cardiology. R.D. is the chairman of the Scientific Programme Committee of SA Heart 2019. E.D. is the operations officer of SA Heart. N.A.B.N. is the director of the Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Congress of South Africa. N.A.B.N. gratefully acknowledges support from the National Research Foundation, Medical Research Council of South Africa and Lily & Ernst Hausmann Trust.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Paediatric Cardiology, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Cape Town and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

    Liesl Zühlke

  2. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town and Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa

    Liesl Zühlke, Karen Sliwa, Pamela Naidoo, Mpiko Ntsekhe, Farrel Hellig & Ntobeko A. B. Ntusi

  3. Hatter Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases Research in Africa, Department of Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

    Karen Sliwa

  4. Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa

    Pamela Naidoo

  5. African Heart Network, Cape Town, South Africa

    Pamela Naidoo

  6. Division of Paediatric Cardiology, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Witwatersrand and Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Hopewell Ntsinjana

  7. AfricaPCR, Cape Town, South Africa

    Mpiko Ntsekhe & Farrel Hellig

  8. Sunninghill Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Farrel Hellig

  9. Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa

    Francis Smit

  10. Linksfield Park Clinic, Johannesburg, South Africa

    David Jankelow

  11. SA Heart, Cape Town, South Africa

    David Jankelow, Rob Dyer & Erika Dau

  12. Ribat University Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan

    Saad Subahi

  13. College of Medicine, Alribat National University, Khartoum, Sudan

    Saad Subahi

  14. Pan-African Society of Cardiology, Khartoum, Sudan

    Saad Subahi

  15. Busamed Gateway Private Hospital, Durban, South Africa

    Rob Dyer

  16. Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Congress of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa

    Ntobeko A. B. Ntusi

Authors
  1. Liesl Zühlke
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  2. Karen Sliwa
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  3. Pamela Naidoo
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  4. Hopewell Ntsinjana
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  5. Mpiko Ntsekhe
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  6. Farrel Hellig
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  7. Francis Smit
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  8. David Jankelow
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  9. Saad Subahi
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  10. Rob Dyer
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  11. Erika Dau
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  12. Ntobeko A. B. Ntusi
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ntobeko A. B. Ntusi.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Zühlke, L., Sliwa, K., Naidoo, P. et al. Cardiovascular medicine and research in sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and opportunities. Nat Rev Cardiol 16, 642–644 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-019-0269-z

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