Key result
African low- and middle-income countries face severe disparities in cardiovascular imaging access compared to high-income nations.
Why the study?
Significant inequalities persist in access to cardiovascular imaging between high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries like Africa, requiring sustainable solutions.
This review highlights the urgent need for sustainable solutions to address the significant global disparities in access to cardiovascular imaging between high-income and low- and middle-income countries.
Disparities in African LMIC imaging access warrant policy attention; extends GBD data but leaves open outcome impacts and solutions.
Cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There are significant differences in the burden of cardiovascular disease and associated risk factors, across high-income countries and low- and middle-income countries. Cardiac imaging by echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, single-photon emission computed tomography, and positron emission tomography myocardial perfusion imaging are well-established non-invasive tests that aid in the diagnosis, risk stratification, and management of various cardiac diseases. However, there are significant inequalities in availability and access to imaging modalities in low- and middle-income countries attributed to financial constraints, disparities in healthcare and technical infrastructure. In the post-COVID-19 pandemic era, these disparities are exaggerated by the continued technological advancements driving innovations in the field of cardiovascular (CV) imaging in high-income countries, while there is an urgent need to provide sustainable access to diagnostic imaging for patients in economically strained healthcare systems in regions like Africa. This review aims to highlight the inequalities in the burden of cardiac disease, associated risk factors, and access to diagnostic CV imaging tests, while also exploring the need for sustainable solutions to implementing CV imaging all over the world.
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Lakshmanan et al. (2023) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular imaging access was evaluated. There are significant global inequalities in the availability and access to diagnostic cardiovascular imaging modalities in low- and middle-income countries in Africa compared to high-income countries.
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