Considered a legend and the "Leonardo da Vinci" of cardiac surgery, Sir Magdi H. Yacoub, MB, BCH, FACC, has made it his personal mission to close the health care gap between rich and poor countries. The Egyptian-born cardiothoracic surgeon has been credited with establishing heart transplantation in the UK. And he's equally well known for his tireless work to give back and taking cardiovascular care to thousands of people in underserved and war-torn countries.

In the James T. Dove Keynote, Yacoub shares his perspective on global medicine and disparities around the world. "We have so many discoveries, but they only benefit 20% of the world," he says. "This is a major problem because the burden of cardiovascular disease is huge and needs to be addressed."

"The duty of professional people like cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons as well as nongovernmental agencies (NGOs) is to work in collaboration with governments to provide care to their populations, who are the main stakeholders," he says.

This is important, he adds, "because people like myself and others around the world see first-hand the pain and suffering that results from this imbalance in health care delivery. Something has to be done and we have to do it ourselves."

Yacoub is a leader in this effort. He founded the Chain of Hope charity in 1995, which treats children with correctable cardiovascular conditions from war-torn and developing countries and establishes training and research programs in local cardiac units.

In 2009, he founded the Aswan Heart Centre in Egypt which offers medical services free of charge to all patients. The Centre is a major referral center serving patients not only from the Aswan region, but also from other parts of Egypt and Africa. Clinicians perform about 1,100 open-heart operations and 3,000 cardiac catheterizations, with approximately 25,000 outpatient consultations, every year. Its primary PCI service is the only program of its kind within a 250-mile radius, serving a population of 2 million. In addition, it operates one of the largest chronic total occlusion programs in the region and a transcatheter valve therapy service. Interestingly, 60% of surgical patients are children, given the high rates of congenital heart disease in the region. The Centre also has a robust basic and clinical research program.

In addition to his humanitarian work and a long list of clinical and research achievements, Yacoub has more than 1,000 publications to his name. He established the largest heart transplantation program in the world in the UK and today is professor of cardiothoracic surgery at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. He also founded and is director of research at the Harefield Heart Science Centre (The Magdi Yacoub Institute) in London, where he oversees more than 60 scientists and students in the areas of tissue-engineered heart valves, myocardial regeneration, novel left ventricular assist devices, stem cell biology, end-stage heart failure and transplantation immunology.

Watch the 2020 James T. Dove Keynote at Virtual.ACC.org.

Clinical Topics: Cardiac Surgery, Congenital Heart Disease and Pediatric Cardiology, Invasive Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention, Aortic Surgery, Cardiac Surgery and CHD and Pediatrics, Congenital Heart Disease, CHD and Pediatrics and Interventions, Interventions and Structural Heart Disease

Keywords: ACC Publications, ACC Scientific Session Newspaper, ACC Scientific Session Newspaper 2020, ACC Annual Scientific Session, acc20, ACC International, Outpatients, Radius, Percutaneous Coronary Intervention, Heart Defects, Congenital, Cardiac Surgical Procedures, Cardiac Catheterization, Referral and Consultation

< Back to Listings