Vascular Surgery in Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges and Opportunities—The Experience of Uganda

Abstract

Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is home to among the least developed nations in the world with the exception of the Republic of South Africa. The average annual economic growth rate for the region is estimated at 5 % [1] with about 42.7 % of the population living on less than USD 1.9 a day [2]. Communicable diseases such as malaria and respiratory tract diseases such as tuberculosis rank highest in the regions’ disease burden however, due to changing lifestyles non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including cardiovascular disease are on the increase. Vascular surgical services do come with a high cost including availability of specialist human resource, necessary sundries and appropriate equipment which are all not readily available in sub-Saharan Africa including Uganda. In such low socio-economic settings allocation of resources to the health sector is a challenge and availing resources for appropriate vascular surgical care remains an uphill task.