A multilevel and multicenter assessment of health care system capacity to manage cardiovascular diseases in Africa: a baseline study of the Ghana Heart Initiative

Bibliographic Details
Title: A multilevel and multicenter assessment of health care system capacity to manage cardiovascular diseases in Africa: a baseline study of the Ghana Heart Initiative
Authors: Alfred Doku, Lawrence Sena Tuglo, Felix Chilunga, Juliette Edzeame, Ron J.G. Peters, Charles Agyemang
Source: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, Vol 23, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2023)
Publisher Information: BMC, 2023.
Publication Year: 2023
Collection: LCC:Diseases of the circulatory (Cardiovascular) system
Subject Terms: Multilevel and multicenter assessment, Health care system capacity, Cardiovascular diseases, Ghana Heart Initiative, Diseases of the circulatory (Cardiovascular) system, RC666-701
More Details: Abstract Introduction Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) remain the leading cause of death worldwide, with over 70% of these deaths occurring in low- and middle-income regions such as Africa. However, most countries in Africa do not have the capacity to manage CVD. The Ghana Heart Initiative has been an ongoing national program since 2018, aimed at improving CVD care and thus reducing the death rates of these diseases in Ghana. This study therefore aimed at assessing the impact of this initiative by identifying, at baseline, the gaps in the management of CVDs within the health system to develop robust measures to bolster CVD management and care in Ghana. Methods This study employed a cross-sectional study design and was conducted from November 2019 to March 2020 in 44 health facilities in the Greater Accra region. The assessment covered CVD management, equipment availability, knowledge of health workers in CVD and others including the CVD management support system, availability of CVD management guidelines and CVD/NCD indicators in the District Health Information Management System (DHIMS2). Results The baseline data showed a total of 85,612 outpatient attendants over the period in the study facilities, 70% were women and 364(0.4%) were newly diagnosed with hypertension. A total of 83% of the newly diagnosed hypertensives were put on treatment, 56.3% (171) continued treatment during the study period and less than 10% (5%) had their blood pressure controlled at the end of the study (in March 2020). Other gaps identified included suboptimal health worker knowledge in CVD management (mean score of 69.0 ± 13.0, p
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1471-2261
66235014
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1471-2261
DOI: 10.1186/s12872-023-03430-5
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/dc14c662350145448f6c32a1960043b6
Accession Number: edsdoj.14c662350145448f6c32a1960043b6
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
More Details
ISSN:14712261
66235014
DOI:10.1186/s12872-023-03430-5
Published in:BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
Language:English