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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 27, No 3, May/June 2016
AFRICA
201
The Cameroon Cardiac Society (CCS) meeting held in
Yaoundé from 16 to 18 March 2016 was a unique occasion to
review the progress so far and discuss the next steps with national
cardiac societies from French-speaking African countries, some
of which were unable to fully participate physically in the
previous steps. This opportune meeting welcomed together a
large number of delegates representing 12 French-speaking
African countries.
Welcome address
Prof Abdou Serigne BA (Senegal), vice president of the PASCAR
West region and chair of the meeting, welcomed the participants
and thanked them for their time and the effort made to attend the
meeting, and for their enthusiasm in contributing to this unique
opportunity to develop a clear policy against hypertension in
Africa. He expressed gratitude to the CCS for convening this
meeting, which would serve as a call to all other African national
cardiac societies to join the continental organisation. He also set
out the agenda, presented an update on the PASCAR hypertension
roadmap, and made a presentation on the PASCAR hypertension
algorithm, which was followed by friendly, open discussion.
As president of the CCS and co-chair of the meeting, Prof
Samuel Kingue (Cameroon) followed Prof Ba, welcoming the
delegates and wishing the group a fruitful working session. The
second co-chair, Prof Jean Louis Nkoua (Congo) joined his peers
in welcoming participants and wished them a successful meeting.
Update on the PASCAR roadmap for hypertension
Dr Anastase Dzudie, chair of the PASCAR Task Force on
Hypertension, presented an update on the PASCARhypertension
roadmap thus far and an evidence-based review on clinical trials
and guidelines for hypertension management in Africa. The work
to date has consisted of three face-to-face meetings (Nairobi:
27 October 2014, London: 30 August 2015, and Mauritius: 3
October 2015) and several conference calls, during which the
situation analysis was done, the WHF policy document was
presented and discussed, and the continental policy was drafted,
taking into consideration the specific African context.
During these working sessions, relevant scientific issues were
discussed, comments were received on all points, and consensus
was achieved by discussion. The following key stakeholders
have collaborated with PASCAR in the developmental process:
International Forum for Hypertension Control in Africa, African
Heart Network, International Society of Hypertension (low- and
middle-income countries), and several national cardiac societies.
PASCAR algorithm for the diagnosis and
management of hypertension
Prof Abdoul Kane (Senegal) presented the PASCAR algorithm
for the diagnosis and management of hypertension in the
African population. Prof Kane concluded his talk by expressing
the willingness of the writing group to receive feedback in order
to improve the algorithm.
Discussion
The delegates were from 12 African countries, including
Cameroun, Togo, Cote D’Ivoire, Mali, Gabon, Chad, Senegal,
Burkina Faso, Togo, Congo, Benin and Burundi. The audience
acknowledged that the lack of evidence on drug trials on the
continent, as well as the small number of active hypertension
policy programmes on the continent were a real concern needing
an urgent response.
Douala General Hospital and Buea Faculty of Health
Sciences, Douala, Cameroon; Soweto Research Group and
National Institute of Health Millennium Fogarty Chronic
Disease Leadership programme, Department of Medicine,
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Anastase Dzudie, MD, PhD, FESC,
aitdzudie@yahoo.comService de cardiologie, Hôpital Général de Grand Yolf,
Dakar, Senegal
Abdoul Kane, MD
Institut cardiologique d’Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire
Euloge Kramoh, MD
Jean-Baptiste Anzouan-Kacou, MD
Service de cardiologie, Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire
de Lomé, Togo
Jean Marie Damourou, MD
Hôpital Général de Djamena, Chad
Lucien Allawaye, MD
Hôpital militaire de Bujumbura, Burundi
Jolis Nzisabira, MD
Centre Hospitalier de Cotonou, Benin
Latif Mousse, MD
Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire, Conakry, Guinee Conakry
Dadier Balde, MD
Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire de Bamako, Mali
Ouane Nouhom, MD
Centre Hospitalier et Universitaire, Brazaville, Congo
Jean Louis Nkoa, MD
Kimbally Kaki, MD
Hôpital Laquintinie de Douala, Cameroon
Armel Djomou, MD
Cardiology Unit, Department of Internal Medicine, Yaoundé
Central Hospital, Yaoundé, Cameroon
Alain Menanga, MD
Samuel Kingue, MD
Service de cardiologie, Hôpital Central de Yaoundé,
Yaoundé, Cameroon
Christ Nadege Nganou, MD
Liliane Mfeukeu Kuate, MD
Hôpital Universitaire du Centre de Libreville, Gabon
Jean Bruno Mipinda, MD
Polyclinique internationale de Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Lucie Nebie, MD
Service de cardiologie, Université Cheikh Anta DIOP,
Dakar, Senegal
Serigne Abdou Ba, MD