The global burden of paediatric heart disease

Abstract

An estimated 15 million children die or are crippled annually by treatable or preventable heart disease in low-and middle-income countries. Global efforts to reduce under-5 mortality have focused on reducing death from communicable diseases in low-and middle-income countries with little to no attention focusing on paediatric CHD and acquired heart disease. Lack of awareness of CHD and acquired heart disease, access to care, poor healthcare infrastructure, competing health priorities, and a critical shortage of specialists are important reasons why paediatric heart disease has not been addressed in low resourced settings. Non-governmental organisations have taken the lead to address these challenges. This review describes the global burden of paediatric heart disease and strategies to improve the quality of care for paediatric heart disease. These strategies would improve outcomes for children with heart disease.

Reply to letter “Leveraging e-learning for medical education in low- and middle-income countries”

“…Over 90% of the world's children with CHD are born in low-and middle-income countries. 3 With similar prevalence and increasing survival, there is an increased global population of both children and adults living with unrepaired, repaired, and palliated CHD. This is in addition to the burden of acquired conditions such as rheumatic heart disease.…”

“…Part of this includes lack of structured educational training programmes and content-specific resources for practicing in this setting. 3 While many of these trainees continue to seek training abroad in high-income countries as Ma and Vervoort discuss, if they return to their home country to practice, they are often faced with the dilemma of encountering clinical situations in which they have no direct experience managing. Furthermore, to our knowledge, there is no access to freely available, high-quality, and structured e-content covering such medical education.…”

Global cardiac surgery: lessons learnt from the global neurosurgery movement

“…One in 100 babies is born with a CHD requiring surgery, but <1.5% receives the surgery they need, causing 100 000 babies to die every year before reaching their first birthday 6. 33.4 million people live with rheumatic heart disease, for which surgical treatment for valve repair or replacement is critical; yet, >1.2 million people suffer fatal complications every year from untreated cardiovascular disease 7.…”

Profile of congenital heart disease in infants born following exposure to preeclampsia

“…[3,5] Congenital heart diseases (CHD) are the most common birth defects globally. [6,7] They are also important cause of morbidity and mortality globally. [8,9] Current estimates by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the US report CHD as responsible for about 4.2% of all neonatal deaths with most occurring in the first 28 days of life.…”