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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 29, No 5, September/October 2018
332
AFRICA
Abstract
Background:
In response to the call by the World Health
Organisation to reduce premature deaths from non-commu-
nicable diseases by 25% by the year 2025 (25×25), the
Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR), in partner-
ship with several organisations, including the World Heart
Federation, have developed an urgent 10-point action plan
to improve detection, treatment and control of hyperten-
sion in Africa. Priority six of this action plan is to promote
a task-shifting/task-sharing approach in the management of
hypertension.
Aim:
This capacity-building initiative aims to enhance the
knowledge, skills and core competences of primary health-
care physicians in the management of hypertension and
related complications.
Methods:
In a collaborative approach with the International
Society of Hypertension, the British and Irish Hypertension
Society, the Public Health Foundation of India and the
Centre for Chronic Disease Control, the PASCAR hyperten-
sion taskforce held a continental faculty meeting in Kenya on
25 and 26 February 2018 to review and discuss a process of
effective contextualisation and implementation of the Indian
hypertension management course on the African continent.
Results:
A tailored African course in terms of evidence-based
learning, up-to-date curriculum and on-the-job training was
developed with a robust monitoring and evaluation strategy.
The course will be offered on a modular basis with a judicious
mix of case studies, group discussions and contact sessions,
with great flexibility to accommodate participants’ queries.
Conclusions:
Hypertension affects millions of people in Africa
and if left untreated is a major cause of heart disease, kidney
disease and stroke. CCMH-Africa will train in the next 10
years, 25 000 certified general physicians and 50 000 nurses,
capable of adequately managing uncomplicated hypertension,
thereby freeing the few available specialists to focus on severe
or complicated cases.
Keywords:
hypertension, roadmap, certified course, primary care
physicians, Africa
Cardiovasc J Afr
2018;
29
: 331–334
www.cvja.co.zaDOI: 10.5830/CVJA-2018-055
Hypertension is a rapidly growing epidemic in Africa. This
increasingly high prevalence is coupled with very poor awareness,
and low treatment and control rates, putting affected persons at
highest risk for stroke, heart and renal diseases.
1-3
African Union
member states described hypertension as the continent’s greatest
health challenge after HIV/AIDS. An urgency was recognised
to develop and share best practices, including affordable and
effective community-based programmes to detect, treat and
control hypertension.
As the leading continental association, the Pan-African
Society of Cardiology (PASCAR), supported by the World Heart
Federation roadmap to Africa and all continental hypertension
and cardiac societies, published the 10-point action plan to
significantly improve control of hypertension, in an attempt to
reduce heart disease and stroke on the continent by the year
2025.
4
Target six of this action plan aims to shift the paradigm
in hypertension management via promoting a task-shifting/task-
sharing approach, with adequate training of non-specialists.
The certificate course in the management of hypertension
will be the educational cornerstone and training guide needed
to ultimately control hypertension in Africa. It aims to enhance
the knowledge, skills and core competencies of primary care
physicians in the management of hypertension and related
complications.
This course is a joint certification programme to be issued by
PASCAR, in collaboration with the Public Health Foundation
of India (PHFI), British and Irish Hypertension Society (BIHS),
International Society of Hypertension (ISH) and Centre
for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC), supported by local
governments and academics. This unique capacity-building
initiative will provide exceptional education and address several
issues that arise in the management of hypertension, such as
the very low doctor-to-patient ratios, concentration of the
few specialists in urban areas, and inadequate training in the
management of hypertension at graduate level.
It is in this regard that the continental faculty meeting was
held at Nairobi, Kenya, on 25 and 26 February 2018. The event
witnessed the gathering of six esteemed international experts
and 20 representatives from PASCAR, PHFI, BIHS, the African
Heart Network (AHN) and the Kenyan Ministry of Health.
These experts reviewed the course in terms of evidence-based
learning with an up-to-date curriculum contextualised to the
African setting, aimed at training 50 000 nurses and 25 000
certified general physicians who would adequately manage
uncomplicated hypertension, thereby freeing the few available
specialists to focus on severe or complicated cases.
Group photo. Front left to right:
Arun Jose (PHFI), Mahmoud
Sani (PASCAR), Euloge Kramoh (PASCAR), Dike Ojji
(PASCAR), Fred Burachi (Kenyan Ministry of Public Health),
Benedick Anisiuba (PASCAR), Habib Gamra (African Heart
Network), Amha Weldehana (Ethiopian Cardiac Society).
Middle left to right:
George Nel (PASCAR), Francesco
Cappuccio (BISH), Saad Subhani (PASCAR), Bhalla Sandeep
(PHFI), Christian Delles (BISH), Bernard Gitura (Kenyan
Cardiac Society), Calypse Ngwasiri (CRENC).
Back left to right:
Ibrahim Toure (PASCAR), Awad Mohamed
(PASCAR), Elijah Ogola (PASCAR), Neil Poulter (ISH),
Albertino Damaceno (PASCAR), Anastase Dzudie (PASCAR),
Andre-Pascal Kengne (PASCAR), Brice Kitio (GANEO).