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Africa

Africa is home to more than 1 billion people and is a major contributor to the global burden of cardiovascular disease.

In 2019, more than 1 million deaths were attributable to CVD in sub-Saharan Africa, which constituted 5.4% of all global CVD-related deaths and 13% of all deaths in Africa.

CVD is the second leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa

1M+

More than 1 million people die every year from CVD in Africa

High blood pressure is responsible for more than half of all CVD deaths in Africa

Living with CVD in Africa

Reforming rural healthcare: hypertension in Kenya

The beat of change: rheumatic heart disease in Mozambique

Colours to Save Hearts

RHD is the most commonly acquired heart disease in people under 25

Colours to Save Hearts is an initiative aimed at raising awareness of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) among children, teachers and parents, and educate them about the link between sore throat and rheumatic heart disease, how to recognise symptoms and what to do when they first appear.

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Our Members

WHF African Summit on Best Practices and Access to Care

The World Heart Federation African Summit on Best Practices and Access to Care was held in Khartoum, Sudan on 10 and 11 October 2017 in collaboration with the Pan African Society of Cardiology, African Heart Network and Sudan Heart Society.

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Latest News

WHF Board Members win prestigous Alan Pifer Award for their research on women and heart health

WHF Past President Prof Karen Sliwa and Board Member Prof Liesl Zühlke have been awarded the University of Cape Town’s prestigious Alan Pifer Award in recognition of their outstanding work in welfare-related research. A Past President of the World Heart Federation and Chair of the Neglected Cardiovascular Disease group, Prof Sliwa’s scholarship has informed the […]

Women & CVD

Colours to Save Heart engages community leaders in Maputo, Mozambique

Throughout the month of October, our partners in Mozambique organized a series of community outreach activities in the KaMavota neighbourhood of Maputo as part of the Colours to Save Hearts project. The goal of these activities was to raise awareness of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) among community leaders and support educational activities in the local […]

Rheumatic Heart Disease

WHF Roundtables on hypertension in Accra, Ghana

From 31 August to 1 September, the Ghanaian Society of Cardiology (GSC), the Stroke Association Support Network – Ghana (SASNET-Ghana) in partnership with the World Heart Federation, brought together key stakeholders to discuss the barriers to hypertension management in the country and suggest pragmatic solutions to address them. The two-day roundtable discussion, which started in Accra […]

Hypertension

Addressing air pollution in the WHO African region

This is a statement made at the 72nd Session of the World Health Organization RCM for the AFRO Region on Agenda item 13: Updated regional strategy for the management of environmental determinants of human health in the African Region 2022–2032 (Document AFR/RC72/10 and Document AFR/RC72/WP1) The World Heart Federation applauds the introduction of an updated regional strategy […]

Air Pollution

All Topics

Air Pollution

Air Pollution

Chagas Disease

Chagas Disease

Cholesterol

Cholesterol

COVID-19

COVID-19

Diabetes

Diabetes

Healthy Diet

Healthy Diet

Heart Failure

Heart Failure

Hypertension

Hypertension

Obesity

Obesity

Prevention

Prevention

Rheumatic Heart Disease

Rheumatic Heart Disease

Tobacco

Tobacco

Women & CVD

Women & CVD

The most common heart attack symptom, in both men and women, is some type of chest pain, pressure or discomfort. But chest pain is not always the most noticeable symptom, especially in women, who are more likely to experience it as pressure or tightness in the chest. They may even have no chest pain at […]