CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 33, No 2, March/April 2022 94 AFRICA ‘Life as you rise’ – Prof Mayosi ‘ProfessorMayosi never forgot the challenges he had to overcome, and he therefore dedicated himself to mentoring and supporting others faced with similar challenges’ – Prof Mark Engel ‘Make your research beyond yourself. Be humble, pray for wisdom each day, and don’t worry about who gets the credit’ – Prof Mayosi Congress outcomes and recommendations A new PASCAR governing council was elected with Prof Elijah Ogola from Kenya as the new president. Each of the five main regions of the continent was represented by a vice president and assistant secretary general. The main recommendation of the congress was to strengthen and solidify the role of the task forces to achieve the four goals of PASCAR, namely, to prevent and treat CVDs in Africa, to educate and train African healthcare professionals about CVDs, to educate lay persons about heart disease and to invest in cardiovascular research. More involvement of the younger generation and female cardiologists was encouraged. Two areas of focus have been identified by PASCAR as integral to the future of the organisation and cardiology in the continent. One new task force was formed for clinical research training, to serve this important field. Conclusion The 15th PASCAR congress held in Mombasa was an extraordinarily successful hybrid event in the context of a pandemic that continues to shake the world, with successful in-person participation and engagement, and online participation of a wealth of international collaborators, faculty and attendees. It has refocused the eyes of the cardiovascular community on the pressing needs of CVD in Africa, charted the way forward for research and capacity building, and encouraged all attendees to consider innovative and integrated methods to employ evidencebased interventions into policy and practice. References 1. Yuyun MF, Sliwa K, Kengne AP, Mocumbi AO, Bukhman G. Cardiovascular diseases in sub-Saharan Africa compared to high-income countries: an epidemiological perspective. Glob Heart 2020; 15(1): 15 2. Azeez TA. Obesity in Africa: the challenges of a rising epidemic in the midst of dwindling resources. Obesity Med 2022; 31: 100397. 3. Schulze MB, Martínez-González MA, Fung TT, Lichtenstein AH, Forouhi NG. Food based dietary patterns and chronic disease prevention. Br Med J 2018; 361. 4. Kansra AR, Lakkunarajah S, Jay MS. Childhood and adolescent obesity: a review. Frontiers Pediat 2021; 8: 866. 5. Dokainish H, Teo K, Zhu J, Roy A, AlHabib KF, ElSayed A, et al. Global mortality variations in patients with heart failure: results from the International Congestive Heart Failure (INTER-CHF) prospective cohort study. Lancet Glob Health 2017; 5(7): e665–e672. 6. Agbor VN, Essouma M, Ntusi NAB, Nyaga UF, Bigna JJ, Noubiap JJ. Heart failure in sub-Saharan Africa: A contemporaneous systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Cardiol 2018; 257: 207–215. 7. Ogah OS, Adebiyi A, Sliwa K. Heart failure in sub-Saharan Africa. In: Rescigno G, Firstenberg MS (eds). Topics in Heart Failure Management 2019. 8. Thienemann F, Sani MU, Sliwa K, Ogola EN. The Pan-African Society of Cardiology and its commitment to clinical research training. Eur Heart J 2022. (e-pub Feb 18) 9. Thienemann F, Dzudie A, Mocumbi AO, Blauwet L, Sani MU, Karaye KM, et al. Rationale and design of the Pan-African Pulmonary hypertension Cohort (PAPUCO) study: implementing a contemporary registry on pulmonary hypertension in Africa. Br Med J Open 2014; 4(10): e005950. 10. Thienemann F, Dzudie A, Mocumbi AO, Blauwet L, Sani MU, Karaye KM, et al. The causes, treatment, and outcome of pulmonary hypertension in Africa: insights from the Pan African Pulmonary Hypertension Cohort (PAPUCO) registry. Int J Cardiol 2016; 221: 205–211.
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