CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 25, No 4, July/August 2014
152
AFRICA
Third, from a therapeutic standpoint, treatment options will
be limited in many countries for financial reasons. Will ICDs be
available for secondary prevention and are there enough skilled
doctors to implant them? Hospitals and healthcare systems
will face huge financial challenges in funding these high-cost
devices, even in the secondary-prevention setting. A paucity
of cardiologists and electrophysiologists exists in sub-Saharan
and west Africa with very few or no centres able to implant
pacemakers and ICDs. Even in north African countries, where
the situation is slightly better, ICD centres are few.
14
This study has the potential to create a legacy on the
management of SCD in Africa. Regional centres participating
in this study have the potential to become centres of expertise
in the management of SCD. Information gained from this study
may help governments develop healthcare policies, including
the placement of defibrillators in public places, such as schools,
sports venues and health facilities, to improve out-of-hospital
resuscitation attempts; and providing adequate funding for high-
cost devices.
Recognising the paucity of expertise may facilitate training
of future African physicians and cardiologists. Determining the
magnitude and nature of the problem of SCD in Africa, which
is the main goal of this study, is the first major step.
Ashley Chin, MB ChB, FCP (SA),
Cardiac Clinic, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape
Town, Cape Town, South Africa
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Cardiovascular congress diary 2014
DATE
CONFERENCE
LOCATION
CONTACT DETAILSTO REGISTER
SEPTEMBER
10–14
SA Paediatric Society/SA Society of Paediatric Surgeons ICC, Cape Town, SA
OCTOBER
16–19
15th Annual SA Heart Congress 2014
ICC, Durban, SA
22–24
4th World Congress of Regional Anaesthesia and
Pain Therapy
ICC, Cape Town, SA
NOVEMBER
15
AHA scientific session CME
Illiniois, Chicago, USA
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