NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 3 — As the world marks Heart Day, AstraZeneca and partners are commemorating nine years of its Healthy Heart Africa programme which envisions the decentralization of care for chronic illnesses, placing a special emphasis on diabetes and hypertension.
Since its inception in 2014, the programme has conducted over 38.5 million blood pressure screenings; and diagnosed over 3.1 million people.
The programme has also trained over 10,600 healthcare workers in over 1,300 healthcare facilities to provide hypertension services.
Yvette Kisaka, who heads the Non-Communicable Diseases at the Ministry of Health Kenya applauded the Healthy Heart Africa programme’s pivotal role in the fight against cardiovascular disease in Kenya and continues to collaborate with all stakeholders to ensure a healthier future for citizens.
“We need to strengthen health systems to achieve Universal Health Coverage, as envisioned by Sustainable Development Goal 3 on good health and well-being. That is why, together with partners, we are developing strategies such as the National Guidelines for the Management of Cardiovascular Diseases,” she said.
HHA started its journey in Kenya in 2014 and subsequently expanded to Ethiopia, Tanzania, Ghana, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal Rwanda, Nigeria and Zanzibar. It has supported sustainable models by working with local health systems.
AstraZeneca Senior Director of Corporate Affairs for the Middle East & Africa Region, Qutaiba Al Manaseer said the programme is on track to achieve its ambition of reaching 10 million people with elevated blood pressure by 2025, with 7.7 million readings recorded thus far.
“Healthy Heart Africa demonstrates the power of public-private partnerships in delivering sustainable solutions that strengthen the resilience of local health systems. We will continue collaborating with stakeholders to tackle the silent killer that is hypertension and to improve patient outcomes,” he said.
According to the World Health Organization, hypertension affects 1 in 3 adults worldwide and Africa has the highest prevalence of hypertension in any region, with the number of adults suffering from high blood pressure in sub-Saharan Africa projected to reach 216.8 million by 2030.
In 2019, more than 1 million deaths were due to cardiovascular diseases in sub-Saharan Africa, which constituted 5.4 per cent of all global CVD-related deaths and 13 per cent of all deaths in Africa.
