Local innovation for improving primary care cardiology in resource-limited African settings: an insight on the Cardio Pad ？ project in Cameroon

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death globally. Furthermore, CVD disproportionally affects low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), where about 80% of deaths from CVD around the world are recorded (1). Even in countries within Africa, CVD and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in general are set to overtake HIV infection, malaria and tuberculosis as the leading cause of death. Although CVD is increasingly receiving attention across Africa, countries in this region are still to develop economically, confronted with the high burden of infectious diseases, and are still ill-prepared to cope with the rising epidemic of CVD. Major challenges include the inefficient and inadequate health facilities, poor health system organization and lack of qualified health workforce to meet increasing healthcare demands for CVD (2)