Setting a hierarchy of cooperative goals across African countries, beginning with education and health care that is less dependent on high-cost items, may be a solution to addressing cardiac arrhythmias in Africa, according to an article published Jan. 7 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Aimé Bonny, MD, et al., explain that cardiovascular diseases, including cardiac arrhythmias, are a major public health problem in low- and middle-income countries, to which almost all Sub-Saharan Africa countries belong. They note that in order to address this growing problem, the area of focus should be: 1) increased health care financing and research for Africa-specific needs; 2) observational studies and registries to ascertain the disease patterns specific to the continent; 3) training of nurses, general practitioners and cardiologists; and 4) collaboration among PASCAR cardiologists and other cardiology and heart rhythm societies. The authors conclude that progress toward universal health coverage would further improve access to care and ensure equitable health improvement in the population. Read more.