Cardiovascular Journal of Africa: Vol 29 No 5 (September/October 2018)

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CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 29, No 5, September/October 2018 334 AFRICA
The course will be valid, reproducible, clear, simple and
concise enough to be easily adopted by various African countries
and monitored regularly. For the roll-out plan of the course
(Fig. 1), the consensus was that different language versions of
the course will be produced and implementation will be done by
PASCAR’s organisational structure through the various national
cardiac societies. There was a consensus that under PASCAR
leadership, funds should be raised both at international and
national levels to support the running of the course.
The following key stakeholders will be involved in the
developmental process: PASCAR, PHFI, BIHS, ISH, CCDC,
African Union and WHO-AFRO. Finally the group adopted a
timeline of activities for the finalisation and implementation of
the suggestions relevant to the African context and a regional
faculty meeting was planned for two month’s time.
Conclusion
The curriculum of the Indian CCMH course was customised
to a tailored African version that met the needs of the urgent
paradigm shift in hypertension management in Africa. The
key next steps are implementation of the course in all African
countries, with translated versions into French, Portuguese,
Arabic and local languages. National cardiac societies, all
professional and non-professional organisations (including
the African Heart Network and the International Forum for
Hypertension Prevention and Control in Africa) and various
stakeholders (including the African Union, ministries of health
and the WHO) will be called upon to support this course that
has been designed to significantly improve the management of
hypertension in Africa.
African CCMH in brief
The primary objective of this capacity-building initiative is to
enhance the knowledge, skills and core competencies of primary
care physicians in the management of hypertension and related
complications. In addition, there are three secondary objectives:
• to develop/update a standard teaching protocol and module
for evidence-based learning in hypertension
• to build a network of primary care physicians and specialists
in the field of hypertension
• to regularly update the primary care physicians with the latest
advancements in the field of hypertension.
Course design and duration
CCMH-Africa is a unique course in terms of evidence-based
learning, an up-to-date curriculumwith inputs from international
experts and regional faculty, on-the-job training, and robust
monitoring and supervision strategy.
Ideally, the total duration of the course is 10 months with
a once-a-month contact session scheduled on a designated
weekend at regional centres.
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. The
course content will be delivered by trained faculty, all of whom
are eminent cardiologists/medicine specialists.
Eligibility criteria
• MB BS (or country-specific equivalent) with a minimum of
three years of clinical experience.
• MD/DNB (medicine/internal medicine/family medicine) or
country-specific equivalent.
Certification criteria
The criteria for successful completion of the programme are as
follows:
• Participation in at least nine out of 10 monthly contact
sessions (including the pre-test of each module).
• Completion of assigned course work.
• Passing of the final written examination in the form of 50
multiple-choice questions, with a minimum pass mark of 70%.
Contact details
Mr George Nel
PASCAR Executive, CCMH (Africa)
Cell: +27834585954
e-mail:
Website:
Skype: george.nel68
References
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AP. Burden of undiagnosed hypertension in sub-Saharan Africa: A
systematic review and meta-analysis. Hypertension 2015; 65(2): 291–298.
2. Adeloye D, Basquill C. Estimating the prevalence and awareness rates of
hypertension in Africa. A systematic analysis. Schnabel RB (ed). PLoS
One 2014; 9(8): e104300.
3. Dzudie A, Kegne AP, Muna WFT, Ba H, Menanga A, kouam Kouam
C, et al. Prevalence, awareness, treatment and control of hypertension in
a self-selected sub-Saharan Africa urban population; a cross-sectional
study. Br Med J Open 2012; 2(4): 1–10.
4. Dzudie A, Rayner B, Ojji D, Schutte AE, TwagirumukizaM, Damasceno
A, et al., on behalf of the PASCAR task force on hypertension Roadmap
to achieve 25% hypertension control in Africa by 2025. Cardiovasc J Afr
2017; 28(4): 261–72.