CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Vol 24, No 5, June 2013
AFRICA
151
Editorial
The Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR) in 2013
and beyond
ANASTASE DZUDIE, BONGANI M MAYOSI
Abstract
The biennial Congress of the Pan-African Society of
Cardiology (PASCAR) was held in Dakar from 16 to 19 May
2013 under the patronage of his Excellency, Macky Sall, pres-
ident of the Republic of Senegal. This meeting was remark-
able in the diversity of its 700 participants from English-,
French- and Portuguese-speaking Africa. Important aspects
of cardiovascular disease in Africa were presented in 195
abstracts and numerous talks; the topics were hypertension,
obesity, diabetes, heart failure, cardiomyopathies, coronary
heart disease, stroke and rheumatic heart disease. The gener-
al assembly meeting was marked by the review and adoption
of a new constitution and elections of a new PASCAR govern-
ing council that will be in office for the next four years. The
new leadership of PASCAR has committed itself to strength-
ening the administrative infrastructure of the organisation,
developing programmes to address education and training
needs of African cardiovascular practitioners, developing a
pan-African multi-national research platform, and ensuring
that ministries of health implement national programmes for
the prevention and control of cardiovascular and other non-
communicable diseases.
Introduction
Since its conception by a small group of African cardiologists
during the late 1970s, the Pan-African Society of Cardiology
(PASCAR) has undergone three phases. These include an early
growth spurt, characterised by regular continental meetings
from 1981 to 1997; a period of stagnation from 1998 to
2003, during which no PASCAR meetings were held; and the
renaissance phase that started in Accra, Ghana in October 2004
at a conference that was attended by 40 delegates, mainly from
Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa.
1
Since Ghana,
PASCAR has been gaining momentum in its work of galvanising
health practitioners in Africa to improve clinical care and
prevention of cardiovascular disease.
In 2007, the 8th PASCAR congress held in Nairobi, Kenya
attracted over 300 participants from countries in all regions of
Africa and beyond. A similarly global audience attended the 9th
PASCAR congress in Abuja, Nigeria in September 2009, while
the 10th congress two years later in Kampala, Uganda attracted
about 400 global participants, mainly from English-speaking
Africa. The achievement of the 2013 Dakar meeting was to bring
together English-, French- and Portuguese-speaking Africans
and foster understanding between these historically separated
groups.
Opening ceremony
The PASCAR congress was held in Dakar from Wednesday 15
to Sunday 19 May 2013 under the patronage of his Excellency
Macky Sall, president of the Republic of Senegal. At the opening
ceremony, one minute of silence was observed in honour of
the three distinguished members of PASCAR who have passed
away since the previous meeting (the late President of PASCAR,
Prof Oluwole Adebo of Nigeria, the late Editor-in-Chief of the
Cardiovascular Journal of Africa
, Prof Andries Brink of South
Africa, and Prof Ndobo Pierre from Cameroon).
Prof Walinjon Muna, a past president of PASCAR, gave
the opening address on the burden of cardiovascular diseases
(CVD) in Africa and how to define specific strategies to control
this rising burden of disease. He was followed by Prof Abdou
Ba, president of the organising committee, who expressed his
gratitude to all contributors, with particular credit to the highest
Senegalese authority for understanding the concerns of heart
specialists and joining PASCAR in his fight against CVD.
Prof Samuel Omokhodion, the then secretary-general, recalled
the hard work of PASCAR’s founders and subsequent leaders
through a brief history, and their merits for having created
an organisation such as PASCAR, which has been integral to
PASCAR board members. Back row, from left to right:
Dr Anastase Dzudie, Cameroon, assistant general secre-
tary (Central Africa); Dr Harun Otieno, Kenya, assistant
general secretary (East); Dr Saad Subahi, Sudan, vice-
president (North); Prof Elijah Ogola, Kenya, vice-presi-
dent (East); Dr Awad Mohamed, Sudan, assistant general
secretary (North); Prof BA Serigne, Senegal, vice-presi-
dent (West); Prof Samuel Kingue, Cameroon, vice-presi-
dent (Central); Prof Johan Brink, South Africa, assistant
general secretary (South). Front row from left to right:
Prof Toure Ali Ibrahim, Niger, assistant general secretary
(West); Dr Ana-Olga Mocumbi, Mozambique, vice-presi-
dent (South); Prof Bongani Mayosi, South Africa, presi-
dent; Prof Karen Sliwa-Hahnle, South Africa, treasurer;
Dr Benedict Anisiuba, Nigeria, secretary general.
