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Africa Cardiovascular Health News Update: August 2008

Africa Cardiovascular Health News Update: August 2008

 

Cardiovascular disease prevention news in Africa Ethiopia, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Global.

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Africa: Librarian workshop

The World Health Organization Africa Regional Office organized the first workshop for WHO/AFRO Country Office librarians/documentalists on 7-11 July 2008 in Brazzaville, Congo. Participants came from WHO country offices, the WHO Geneva Library and the Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa based in Pretoria, South Africa. Further information will be available at the upcoming AHILA (Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa) 11 Congress on 6-10 October 2008 in Maputo, Mozambique.

WHO/AFRO Library: http://www.afro.who.int/library/index.html

 

Ethiopia: Cooking smoke and women

Eighty percent of rural women in Gondar region cooked indoors using biomass fuel with no ventilation and only 13% knew it was a cause for concern, a small study found. Although some women were aware of the negative effects of smoke on their health, only 20% realized it caused problems in children. Once aware of adverse effects, the women were willing to change cooking practices but were unable to afford cleaner fuels or improved stoves.

“Awareness of health effects of cooking smoke among women in the Gondar Region of Ethiopia: a pilot survey”

BMC International Health and Human Rights 2008; 8: 10 (open access)

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-698X/8/10/abstract

 

Kenya: Lifestyle diseases increase

Market research reveals that a large number of the middle class in Kenya will be spending heavily on healthcare over the next five years as they live with the complications from lifestyle diseases such a hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Kenyans are currently spending about KE$1.9 billion on hypertension medicine, approximately 13% of the KE$15 billion pharmaceutical market and one of the largest by disease type.

AllAfrica.com: http://allafrica.com/stories/200807151054.html

 

Namibia: First cardiac hospital unit

The first cardiac hospital unit in Namibia was inaugurated on 5 August 2008 by President Hifikepunye Pohamba and South African President Thabo Mbeki. The cardiac unit is located at the Windhoek Central Hospital in the capital Windhoek. The inauguration followed the first nine heart surgeries performed at the hospital in June on people wth advanced rheumatic heart disease.

AllAfrica.com: http://allafrica.com/stories/200808060394.html

 

Nigeria: Hypertension in adolescents

A study of Nigerian students aged 13-19 years found that hypertension prevalence was 6.7% for boys and 7.7% for girls. The prevalence rate increased from 4.3% among the youngest students to 11.8% among the oldest. Hypertensives were about twice more likely to have a family history of hypertension compared to their non-hypertensive counterparts.

“Prevalence of hypertension among teenage students in Kano, Nigeria”

Nigerian Journal of Medicine 2008; 17(2): 175-180

http://www.nigerjmed.com/current_issue/mijinyawams.html

 

Rwanda: Heart disease tops health agenda

Health professionals from around the country met in Kigali to set plans to treat heart disease with emphasis on early prevention at the 12th annual Rwanda Medical Association conference in early July 2008. The meeting was themed “The emerging pandemic of cardiovascular diseases, a burden to the developing world.”

AllAfrica.com: http://allafrica.com/stories/200807150254.html

 

South Africa: Live broadcast of heart surgery

Television station SABC 3 broadcasted the first real-time live open-heart surgery in the world on 2 August 2008. The patient, Wally Katzke, 52, volunteered after careful consultation with a team of medical experts. A heavy smoker who led a sedentary lifestyle, Wally had a mild heart attack in 1999 and had a stent inserted at age 44. Doctors who performed the single bypass open-heart surgery commended his unselfish commitment to share his experience with others and they hoped the real-time transmission had educated viewers of the very real risk of cardiovascular disease due to poor diet and lifestyle choices.

Cape Argus: http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=4530011

 

South Africa: Obesity and hypertension in women

A small study of black African and white women found that African women have higher blood pressure than their white counterparts, but their obesity levels are weakly related to traditional CVD risk factors compared to white women. African women presented significant correlations of obesity with triglycerides, C-reactive protein, and the development of insulin resistance.

“Should obesity be blamed for the high prevalence rates of hypertension in black South African women?”

Journal of Human Hypertension 2008; 22, 528–536

http://www.nature.com/jhh/journal/v22/n8/abs/jhh200835a.html

 

South Africa: Cardiac disease in pregnancy

Cardiac disease in pregnancy is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates for mothers and their babies, a study at Pretoria Academic Hospital found. Nearly 1% of all mothers who delivered at the hospital had underlying cardiac disease. Most cardiac lesions were valvular disease secondary to childhood rheumatic heart disease; pulmonary edema was associated with the greatest morbidity and mortality. The severe morbidity rate was 11.6% and the case fatality rate was 3.3%. The mean gestational age at delivery was 35 weeks; 9.7% of babies were born before 34 weeks.

“Cardiac disease in pregnancy—A four-year audit at Pretoria Academic Hospital (2002-2005)”

South African Medical Journal 2008; 98(7): 553-556 (open access)

http://www.samj.org.za/index.php/samj/article/view/221

 

South Africa: Chronic disease risk factors

Employees of 18 companies that participated in a health-risk assessment had higher rates of overweight, smoking among men, and physical inactivity compared to the general South Africa population. The study also found that increased health-related expenditure was associated with increased number of risk factors, absenteeism, and reduced physical activity.

“Chronic disease risk factors, healthy days and medical claims in South African employees presenting for health risk screening”

BMC Public Health 2008; 8: 228 (open access)

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/8/228/abstract

 

Uganda: Medical checks for hospital staff

Staff at the Mulago Hospital in Kampala received free medical screenings for hypertension, obesity, and diabetes from 28 May to 11 June 2008. “Those found with complications are to be put on treatment to avert sudden deaths,” said a hospital spokesperson. The hospital has about 2300 staff members.

AllAfrica.com: http://allafrica.com/stories/200807071122.html

 

Global: Code of conduct to stem internal brain drain

International non-governmental organizations signed a code of conduct on 29 May 2008 to help strengthen health systems, and pledged to pursue practices that bolster the public sector in the countries in which they operate. The document is intended to provide a framework for good practice and discourage international NGOs from hiring health workers from struggling public-health systems in developing countries.

“NGO code of conduct hopes to stem internal brain drain”

Lancet 2008; 371; 2162 (open access)

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS014067360860937X/fulltext

 

Global: Bloomberg, Gates tobacco control investment

Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates announced a combined investment of US$500 million to help governments in developing countries implement proven policies and increase funding for tobacco control. Bloomberg’s Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, a US$125 million commitment established in 2005, will be extended with a new US$250 million, four-year commitment. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will invest US$125 million over five years, including a US$24 million grant to the Bloomberg Initiative. The funding will support implementation of WHO’s MPOWER package of proven tobacco control strategies and build economic evidence to support tobacco control over the next two years.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/GlobalHealth/Announcements/Announce-080723.htm

 

Global: Global Health Professions Student Survey

The 2005-2007 Global Health Professions Student Survey results suggest that health profession schools, public health organizations, and education officials should discourage tobacco use among health profession students and should train health professionals in effective cessation counseling techniques. In 47 of 80 survey sites, over 20% of students reported being current cigarette smokers; and over 10% of students in 29 sites currently used other tobacco products. The majority of students recognized that they are role models and believed they should receive training on counseling patients to quit using tobacco; however, in 73 sites, less than 40% reported receiving such training.

“Tobacco use and cessation counselling: cross-country. Data from the Global Health Professions Student Survey (GHPSS), 2005–7″

Tobacco Control 2008; 17: 238: 247

http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/17/4/238

 

 

Global: Effectiveness of smoke-free policies

Implementation of smoke-free policies in many Western countries has reduced smoking prevalence and has had subsequent health benefits, according to an International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) report. The report states that such smoking bans have not had adverse financial effects on the bar and restaurant industry. Comprehensive smoke-free laws significantly reduce exposure to secondhand smoke—80%-90% reduction in high-exposure settings. Findings from the report precede a February 2009 IARC handbook assessing the effects of smoke-free policies.

“Effectiveness of smoke-free policies”

Lancet Oncology 2008; 9(7): 614-615

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/14702045

 

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The Africa Cardiovascular Health News Update is compiled by ProCor (www.procor.org), a news and discussion forum that promotes heart health and the prevention of cardiovascular diseases through cost-effective practices in developing countries and other low-resource settings. ProCor uses email and the web to provide timely, unbiased health information to enable knowledge sharing among a global community working in clinical, community, and policy settings. To join the ProCor email network, send a message to procor-join@healthnet.org. Subscribing is free and anyone can participate.

- Juan Ramos, ProCor Program Coordinator, jramos3@partners.org

August 7, 2008 | Filed Under News | Leave a Comment 

Tonga RHD prevention program receives 2008 Heart Hero Award

ProCor is pleased to announce that the Rheumatic Heart Disease Prevention Program in Tonga has been selected to receive the 2008 Louise Lown Heart Hero Award. The program screens primary school children for rheumatic heart disease and provides early, effective treatment.

 

Rheumatic heart disease deaths occur almost exclusively in developing countries, primarily affecting children, adolescents, and young adults. Many cases are detected too late, when the disease has progressed to cardiac failure. A study recently published in Nature Clinical Practice reported that Tonga has the highest prevalence (confirmed by echocardiogram) of rheumatic heart disease in the world (1).

 

ProCor’s 2008 Heart Hero, Dr. Toakase Fakakovikaetau, initiated the program. She will be presented with the award by Tonga’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Health, the Honourable Dr. Viliami Tau Tangi. Details about the ceremony will be forthcoming.

 

“Toa is the only pediatrician in Tonga and is the mother of four children,” said Samantha Colquhoun, World Heart Federation. “She is, on her own and without external support, achieving what many other regions are unable to achieve with far more resources. Tonga is deserving of additional support to build on the base that Dr. Toa has created and develop an integrated RHD prevention program.”

 

Tonga, a 465-square-mile island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, comprises 169 islands, 36 of them inhabited, with a total population of 102,000.

 

The goal of the Louise Lown Heart Hero Award is to highlight success stories of prevention activities, and we are hopeful that many other communities facing the challenge of rheumatic heart disease will learn from this inspiring program.

 

ProCor’s award review committee chose this year’s winner from applications from 14 countries, including Rwanda, Indonesia, Israel, Eritrea, Mauritius, Nigeria, the Philippines, Iran, South Africa, India, Nepal, Kenya, and the US.

 

Applications for the award may be submitted at any time. The deadline for the next award is 30 April 2009. For more information, visit www.procor.org or email Juan Ramos, ProCor Program coordinator, at jramos3@partners.org.

 

For more information:

Juan Ramos

ProCor Program Coordinator

Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation

21 Longwood Ave.

Brookline MA 02446 USA

jramos3@partners.org

www.ProCor.org

 

Citations:

1. Carapetis JR, Hardy M, Fakakovikaetau T, et al. Evaluation of a screening protocol using auscultation and portable echocardiography to detect asymptomatic rheumatic heart disease in Tongan schoolchildren. Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine 2008; 5: 411-417. www.nature.com/ncpcardio/journal/v5/n7/full/ncpcardio1185.html.

 

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ProCor is a US-based global health communication network that promotes heart health and the prevention of cardiovascular disease through cost-effective practices in developing countries and other low-resource settings. ProCor uses email and the web to provide timely, unbiased health information to enable knowledge sharing among a global community working in clinical, community, and policy settings.

August 6, 2008 | Filed Under Pediatrics | Leave a Comment 

Prevalence of dementia in the developing world underestimated

Previous estimates of levels of dementia in the developing world may have substantially underestimated the problem, according to research published today. The findings suggest that policymakers in low-income and middle-income countries may need to re-examine the burden and impact that dementia places on their health services.
Read more

July 28, 2008 | Filed Under Neurology | 1 Comment 

An effective vaccine against malaria has been developed and could be licensed by 2010, scientists say

Many other candidate vaccines are in development, but experts say trial results of this one, published in the Lancet, are the most promising yet.

The vaccine was used to protect 2,022 children in Mozambique and cut the risk of developing severe malaria by 58%.
Read more

July 24, 2008 | Filed Under Malaria, News, Tropical Medicine | Leave a Comment 

Group A rotavirus in Kenyan children and using the best evidence to guide TB diagnosis

Group A rotavirus in Kenyan children

Combining prospective hospital-based surveillance with demographic data in Kilifi, Kenya, James Nokes (of the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme) and colleagues assess the burden of rotavirus diarrhoea in young children. They find that over 2% of children in Kilifi are admitted to hospital with group A rotavirus diarrhoea in the first 5 years of life. “This translates into over 28,000 vaccine-preventable hospitalisations per year across Kenya,” say the authors, “and is likely to be a considerable underestimate.”

Citation: Nokes DJ, Abwao J, Pamba A, Peenze I, Dewar J, et al. (2008) Incidence and clinical characteristics of group A rotavirus infections among children admitted to hospital in Kilifi, Kenya. PLoS Med 5(7): e153.doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050153

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0050153

July 22, 2008 | Filed Under TB, Tropical Medicine, Tropical diseases | Leave a Comment 

Malaria control goals are likely to be unachievable

For malaria control goals to be achieved, we must in the future tie funding commitments closer to level of need, says new research by Bob Snow and colleagues from the Kenyan Medical Research Institute-Oxford University-Wellcome Trust Collaborative Programme.
Read more

July 22, 2008 | Filed Under Malaria, Tropical diseases | Leave a Comment 

New research links International Monetary Fund loans with higher death rates from tuberculosis

nternational Monetary Fund (IMF) loans were associated with a 16.6% rise in death rates from tuberculosis (TB) in the former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern European countries between 1992 and 2002, finds a study in this week’s PLoS Medicine.
Read more

July 22, 2008 | Filed Under Infectious disease, TB, Tropical diseases | Leave a Comment 

Whooping cough: bacterial monitoring for better prevention

Researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris and the Institut Pasteur in Lille have analyzed the consequences of intensive vaccination of young children against whooping cough on the bacterium agent of the disease. Their observations highlight the importance of continuing bacterial evolution in order to adapt vaccine strategies. Read more

July 17, 2008 | Filed Under Infectious disease, viral infections, whooping cough | Comments Off 

Genetic variation increases HIV risk in Africans

A genetic variation which evolved to protect people of African descent against malaria has now been shown to increase their susceptibility to HIV infection by up to 40 per cent, according to new research. Conversely, the same variation also appears to prolong survival of those infected with HIV by approximately two years.

Read more

July 17, 2008 | Filed Under HIV/Aids | Leave a Comment 

Genetic cause of innate resistance to HIV/AIDS

MUHC and CHUM researchers demonstrate how 2 specific genes are involved in an innate resistance to HIV infection

Some people may be naturally resistant to infection with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The results of a study conducted by Dr. Nicole Bernard of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) bring us closer to a genetic explanation. Her study findings were published on July 16 in the journal AIDS. Read more

July 17, 2008 | Filed Under HIV/Aids | Leave a Comment 

Mutation in human gene helps protect against fatal malaria

TORONTO, ON. – New research suggests that not everyone who is bitten by a malaria-infected mosquito develops life threatening health problems according to scientists at the University of Toronto.

Malaria causes an estimated 500 million clinical cases worldwide with symptoms ranging from headache, high fevers and nausea to more than 1 million deaths annually. Read more

July 17, 2008 | Filed Under Malaria, News | Leave a Comment 

Study shows paradoxical relationship between dengue hemorrhagic fever and its carrier mosquitoes

A study by researchers in Thailand, Japan, and the UK has shown a negative correlation between dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and the density of the Aedes mosquitoes that transmit the virus. The study, published July 16th in the open-access journal PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, explains how current efforts to reduce the mosquitoes may actually increase the incidence of the potentially fatal viral disease.

Read more

July 17, 2008 | Filed Under Tropical diseases, dengue | Leave a Comment 

HIV prevention researchers to compare common ARV as a pill and vaginal gel in unique study

In battle with an epidemic that has outpaced nearly all efforts to contain it, researchers are turning to strategies centered on the same antiretroviral (ARV) drugs that have been used successfully to treat HIV in hopes they will be as effective a stronghold for preventing the virus. For women, who make up nearly half of the 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, the ARV tenofovir has particular promise because it can be formulated as either an oral tablet or a vaginal gel to be used daily. But ARV-based prevention approaches are not without scientific and practical challenges. The Microbicide Trials Network (MTN) is taking aim at among the most pressing of these challenges in the first clinical trial to directly compare the tablet and vaginal gel formulations of tenofovir.
Read more

July 13, 2008 | Filed Under HIV/Aids, anti-HIV medicines | Leave a Comment 

Malaria prevention reduces anemia and improves educational potential in Kenyan schoolchildren

Call for improving malaria prevention among schoolchildren as first study of benefits of malaria treatment for African schoolchildren finds positive health and cognitive benefits

Providing preventive treatment for malaria, given once per term, dramatically reduces rates of malaria infection and anaemia among schoolchildren, and significantly improves their cognitive ability, according to new research published today in the Lancet.
Read more

July 13, 2008 | Filed Under Anemia | Leave a Comment 

Fertility treatment in developing countries; a cycle of IVF for less than $200

Barcelona, Spain: After 30 years of IVF, the rewards of treatment are still largely confined to industrialised countries and those who can afford it. Now, a Special Task Force of ESHRE has set about the immeasurable task of making fertility treatment more accessible to developing countries through a programme of pilot projects, professional awareness and involvement of government and non-governmental agencies.
Read more

July 8, 2008 | Filed Under Fertility | Leave a Comment 

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