In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Cardiovascular Journal of Africa they published a special issue reviewing the progress in cardiology in Africa over the last two decades, and issued a Declaration calling for urgent action by the medical community and governments to address the epidemic of heart disease and diabetes facing Africa.

The Cardiovascular Journal of Africa (www.cvjsa.co.za), the continent's only peer-reviewed, fully indexed cardiology journal, celebrated its 20th anniversary on 1 April 2009. Cardiovascular Journal of Africa is the official journal of the Pan-African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR).

In recognition of this landmark, the journal published a special issue reviewing the progress in cardiology in Africa over the last two decades, and issued a Declaration calling for urgent action by the medical community and governments to address the epidemic of heart disease and diabetes facing Africa.

Speaking at the launch of the Declaration, Professor Andries Brink, the journal's Editor-in-Chief, said: “In the last 25 years, cardiology has made major advances in Africa but we now face a major challenge. The vascular consequences of poor living conditions such as rheumatic heart disease, which kills many thousands, will be joined by the strokes and heart attacks resulting from diabetes and obesity which are increasingly occurring in our populations. We must react now to prevent cardiovascular disease becoming the African epidemic of the mid-21st century.”

The Declaration calls for cardiovascular practitioners in Africa to:

1. Consider the forms of heart disease occurring in Africa.
2. Provide geographic data on prevalence of defined disease entities.
3. Develop capacity for appropriate clinical services at primary, secondary and tertiary levels.
4. Establish diagnostic and treatment centres of excellence guided by the tenets of evidence-based medicine.
5. Provide ready access to all services for all citizens.
6. Develop adequate and rapid communication channels between individuals and institutions involved in services and research.
7. Promote active research in both laboratory and clinical cardiology.
8. Ensure rapid implementation of relevant research findings.
9. Keep in daily contact with developments in cardiovascular medicine in the world.
10. Strictly adhere to internationally accepted ethical standards in all forms of medical practice.

In the coming months the Cardiovascular Journal of Africa and PASCAR will work to develop specific projects to turn this call for action into practical programmes and projects which will deliver significantly improved understanding and management of the cardiovascular diseases which affect millions of Africans.

Article courtesy of Procor: http://www.procor.org/