5th International Conference on Heart and Cardiovascular Diseases

Oburu Gilbert Jagero is a Senior Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon in the Department of Specialized Surgery, affiliated with Kenyatta National Hospital, Mater Hospital, and the University of Nairobi in Kenya. He holds an MBChB and a Master of Medicine (MMed) degree and is actively involved in cardiothoracic surgery, surgical education, and the advancement of cardiac surgical services in Africa. His professional interests include cardiothoracic surgery, specialized surgical training, capacity building, and improving access to cardiovascular surgical care across the African continent. His research, titled “Cardiothoracic Surgery Training in Africa: History and Developments,” examines the evolution of cardiothoracic surgical education, the establishment of regional training programs, and the challenges facing surgical capacity development in Africa. Through his clinical and academic contributions, he advocates for strengthening local training opportunities, developing healthcare infrastructure, and fostering regional and international collaboration to improve access to high-quality cardiac surgical care.

Introduction

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide with a disproportionately huge burden for the low- and medium-income countries. Africa has a huge burden of cardiovascular disease. Even in Africa there is regional disparity in disease burden. This study seeks to highlight magnitude of cardiovascular disease and identify efforts to improve on the inadequacy. It shows that the challenges are attributable to poor economic status and inadequate training of Cardiac Surgeons. It seeks to highlight areas where international, intraregional, and local groups can develop initiatives that would accelerate the development and implementation of Cardiac surgical practice in Africa, especially Sub-Saharan regions.

Materials and methods

We looked at the literature of Cardiac surgery and surgical training in Africa and collected data on the infrastructural development for Cardiothoracic surgery from countries present at the Pan African Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery (PASCaTS) meeting. The data underwent analysis and was displayed through graphs, charts, and illustrative maps.

Results

There have been regional developments in training and capacity building. In contrast to previous times when training occurred in the West or Indian Sub-continent, it now happens locally and regionally. There has also been an increase in new Cardiothoracic units in countries where initially there was no capacity.

Conclusion

African Cardiothoracic capacity and training is still way behind the Western world however there is resilience. With collective effort, training capacity, infrastructure, and patient care could grow rapidly and significantly improve.