A Decisive Decade for Cardiovascular Health in Africa: Turning Evidence into System Design.

Johann A C Edjimbi, Mohamed B Jalloh, Krutarth Kandarp Pandya, Marvellous Adeoye, Camille Lassale, Eloi Marijon, Pasquale Maffia, Bamba Gaye

Journal: Global heart 2026;21(1):36

PMID: 42078565

View on PubMed

Abstract

Cardiovascular disease is now a leading cause of premature mortality across Africa and is accelerating faster than the capacity to prevent, detect, and manage chronic illness. Most patients still engage with the health system only when heart failure, stroke, or ischemic disease is advanced, reflecting a legacy architecture designed primarily to confront acute infections. At the same time, multiple African countries have demonstrated that high-impact cardiovascular care can be delivered at scale when services are organized around primary and district facilities, supported by clear protocols, continuous supply of essential medicines, workforce development, and access to remote specialist expertise. Global experience, including major reforms in Brazil and Thailand, shows that population-level gains arise from deliberate health system design. Africa now stands at a turning point. By embedding cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment within national strategies for universal health coverage and by aligning financing and service delivery with the realities of chronic care, the region can prevent millions of avoidable deaths. The opportunity to define a different future for cardiovascular health is within reach and must be acted upon with urgency and coherence.

Address: Alliance for Medical Research in Africa (AMedRA), Dakar, Senegal.; ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.; Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore, United States.; Alliance for Medical Research in Africa (AMedRA), Dakar, Senegal.; Department of Hospital Medicine, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, United States.; Institute of Public Health and Wellbeing, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom.; Alliance for Medical Research in Africa (AMedRA), Dakar, Senegal.; ISGlobal, Barcelona, Spain.; Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute (IMIM), Barcelona, Spain.; Consortium for Biomedical Research-Pathophysiology of Obesity and Nutrition (CIBEROBN), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Barcelona, Spain.; INSERM U970, Paris Cardiovascular Research Centre (PARCC), 75015 Paris, France.; Division of Cardiology, Georges Pompidou European Hospital, 75015 Paris, France.; School of Infection & Immunity, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, United Kingdom.; Department of Pharmacy, School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.; Africa-Europe CoRE in Non-Communicable Diseases & Multimorbidity, African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) & The Guild of European Research-intensive Universities, Glasgow, United Kingdom.; Alliance for Medical Research in Africa (AMedRA), Dakar, Senegal.; Department of Physiology, Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal.; Department of Biomedical Informatics, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

DOI: 10.5334/gh.1551

MeSH Terms: Humans, Cardiovascular Diseases, Africa, Delivery of Health Care