Cardiovascular Diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa Compared to High-Income Countries: An Epidemiological Perspective

- The burden of non-communicable diseases including cardiovascular diseases is rising in SSA.- Levels of hypertension diagnosis, treatment, and control are low at <40%, <35%, and 10-20%, respectively, and more than 40% of patients with diabetes are not aware of their diagnosis in SSA.- SSA has 23% of the world's prevalent rheumatic heart disease cases.- The leading causes of heart failure in SSA are hypertensive heart disease, cardiomyopathy, and rheumatic heart disease, with ischemic heart disease accounting for <10% of cases compared to >50% in high-income countries.