News release issued for AfricaPCR Congress 2015
March 22, 2015
Pan African congress on minimally invasive cardiac procedures
March 26 – 28 in Johannesburg
A critical intervention needed to prolong lives – and optimise
cardiovascular care – in Africa
Cardiologists from sub-Saharan countries will be attending AfricaPCR in Johannesburg from March
26th - 28th. This is the second pan-African congress focusing on how to integrate minimally invasive
cardiac procedures into the African environment so that optimum cardiovascular care is possible
throughout the continent.
With cardiovascular disease now being the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan adults over the age
of 30, minimally invasive, non-surgical, cardiac interventions can play a critical role in prolonging and
saving lives; they also make economic sense.
Sometimes referred to as angioplasty, percutaneous cardiac interventions (PCI), are done through
the skin in order to open blocked arteries in the heart, with stents being inserted to keep the
affected arteries permanently open.
The use of these minimally invasive procedures has grown exponentially since their inception in the
‘70s, with millions of procedures now being performed globally per annum. By drastically reducing
the need for open heart surgery, PCI has made it possible to prolong and save the lives of many
more patients; it is also significantly less expensive than conventional surgery.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medicine Association (JAMA) in March 2013,
showed that minimally invasive cardiac procedures cost at least $30,000 less per patient per year
compared with bypass surgery, and South African statistics are similar. AfricaPCR 2015 course
director, Dr Farrel Hellig estimates the cost of PCI to be approximately R50,000 – R100,000 per
procedure. Although this may seem high, it is 66 – 75% less than the cost of open heart bypass
surgery which ranges between R250,000 – R300,000 plus per patient in South Africa.
In addition to prolonging life, PCI has minimised recovery time and consequently absenteeism. The
2013 US study showed that patients who had PCI got back to work 38 days (or five and-a-half weeks)
earlier than patients who had open heart bypass surgery.
This is of specific relevance for Africa where cardiovascular deaths often claim breadwinners in the
prime of life. One of the primary drivers is undiagnosed and untreated hypertension which affects
nearly one in two Africans over the age of 25 – a higher rate than for all other continents.
PCI procedures are now the norm in the private healthcare sector in countries like South Africa and
Mauritius. The public healthcare sector in Africa does, however, face many challenges when it comes
to integrating these procedures into its cardiology units.
There is firstly a critical shortage of interventional cardiologists, making education and training,
which takes place at events like AfricaPCR a top priority. Currently, there are only 170 – 175
cardiologists in South Africa, with approximately 670 more in other sub-Saharan countries such as
Nigeria (336), Angola (98), Cote d’Ivoire (103), Kenya (49), Ghana (20) and Mauritius (35).
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Secondly, the infrastructure in African public healthcare is largely inadequate. One of the key
objectives at AfricaPCR 2015 is to explore solutions to the economic and practical challenges
involved in setting up more cath labs in African countries and managing patients in those areas with
limited resources.
Although cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in Africa, far more donor money is still
being allocated to the infectious diseases. In November, 2010, a working paper on global
development assistance for health (DAH) revealed that 30 times more DAH money was being
allocated to malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV, than to all the NCDs combined.
Dr Marleen Hendriks, a researcher who successfully implemented hypertension treatment within a
state health insurance programme in rural Nigeria, comments that there is a common misconception
that hypertension is the disease of the rich when it actually devastates the poor far more as an
unfortunate, inevitable side effect of economic growth and Westernization.
The predominantly African faculty at AfricaPCR 2015 will be bolstered by specialists from Europe and
America. Dr Hellig stresses that “They represent healthcare environments that can be aspired to, but
which will never be exactly the same as those in Africa itself.”
“The challenge for AfricaPCR and its participants,” he says, “is to adapt internationally recognised
‘standards of care’ to what is appropriate to the specifically African environment in order to offer
the best cardiovascular care possible throughout the continent.”
Visit www.africapcr.com for further information on AfricaPCR 2015.
Additional notes
Stents
The methods and medical equipment used for PCI procedures are constantly evolving, with medical
equipment suppliers bringing out new stents almost every six months.
The latest breakthrough product is a bio-reabsorbable stent. Known as a Bioresorbable Vascular
Scaffold (BVS) System, this new treatment option is made from material that dissolves over time,
leaving no residue in the body. This is the realisation of a dream for cardiovascular interventionists
as the BVS supports the artery long enough for it to heal, but then dissolves, allowing the artery to
return to a completely natural condition.
Cath labs
In South Africa, there are about 45 cath labs located in 10 major centres. For most rural areas, the
nearest cath lab is more than 200 kms away – for some, even as far as 500 kms away. If a suitable
building is available to house a cath lab, the main cost is the machine, with the minimum cost of a
machine being US$400,000.
News release issued by Linda Trump of Cat Communications, Tel: (011) 485 2406, Cell: 082 341 7128
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The organisers of AfricaPCR 2015, Europa Organisation Africa, can be contacted on Tel: (011) 325
0020, Email: info@eoafrica.co.za
Hans Buyl, Chief Operating Office of Baroque Medical can be contacted on Tel: (011) 770 4700, or
hans@baroque.co.za.
In addition to being providers of state-of-the art equipment to the cardiovascular industry, and the
partner of choice for Abbott Vascular in South Africa, Baroque Medical also hosts and finances the
African branch of Crossroads Institute, a world renowned training facility for cardiovascular
interventionists.
Dr Farrel Hellig, course director for AfricaPCR 2015 can be contacted on Tel: (011) 806 1835, or Cell:
082 600 7703
Dr Tom Mabin, AfricaPCR Co-director, Cell: 083 555 664
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