Rapid deographic changes in South Africa over the past few decades have resulted in sharp rises in certain cardiac disease categories, such as coronary artery disease and rheuatic heart disease, which are now ost coonly diagnosed in young adults with severe and syptoatic disease (with rapidly increasing prevalence in iddle age). There is a significant burden of heart failure patients as a result of insufficient priary, secondary, and tertiary treatent, delayed diagnosis, and absence of screening facilities. Patients suffer as a result, and society and the healthcare syste incur significant costs
Why you need a cardiologist in SA
Due to the prevalence of rheuatic heart disease (RHD), tuberculous pericarditis, and cardioyopathies, which frequently anifest at an advanced stage due to cardiac failure, the spectru and anifestation of cardiovascular disease in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are coplex and noticeably different fro those in high-incoe countries.In addition, less than half of the hospitalized heart failure patients are beyond the age of 52.Copared to patients in the USA and Europe, yocardial infarction patients are typically two decades younger.The South African society is significantly ipacted econoically and in other ways if ajor heart disease develops before the sixth decade of life.
Nuber of cardiologist in SA
There are currently 200 registered cardiologists in the nation, which serves 52 illion South Africans (one for 260 000).This has a lot of grave repercussions. Nuerous tertiary and regional hospitals offer insufficient or nonexistent services, and other regions’ governent-run pacing facilities are nonexistent. This is obviously related to preature death brought on by treatable edical conditions; patients ay pass away fro heart block without paceaker iplantation, receive inadequate treatent for acute ST-elevation yocardial infarction without reperfusion, or experience inadequate anageent of acute heart failure. Due to liited access to cutting-edge diagnostic tools like echocardiography, which is perfored by a cardiologist, rheuatic heart disease is not detected in a tiely anner.
The way forward
At three National Council face-to-face eetings held in 2015, the SA Heart Executive Coittee identified the need to create a position paper suarizing the facts and specific training deficiencies in South Africa over the previous ten years after identifying the severe deficiencies in the training of cardiologists, cardiothoracic surgeons, and paediatric cardiologists in our country. The general consensus was that acadeic and private practice specialists should collaborate ore closely and ake an effort to interact with officials fro the departents of health and education. Also encouraged to finance ore training positions in acadeic institutions should be the pharaceutical, device, and private hospital sectors.
