Understanding the rise in cardiovascular diseases in Africa : harmonising H3Africa genomic epidemiological teams and tools : cardiovascular topic

Abstract

SummaryAbstractCardiovascular diseases, principally ischaemic heart disease and stroke, are the leading causes of global mortality and morbidity. Together with other non-communicable diseases, they account for more than 60% of global deaths and pose major social, economic and developmental challenges worldwide. In Africa, there is now compelling evidence that the major cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are on the rise, and so are the related fatal and non-fatal sequelae, which occur at significantly younger ages than seen in high-income countries. In order to tackle this rising burden of CVD, the H3Africa Cardiovascular Working Group will hold an inaugural workshop on 30 May 2014 in Cape Town, South Africa. The primary workshop objectives are to enhance our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of the common major CVDs in Africa and strengthen collaborations among the H3Africa teams and other researchers using novel genomic and epidemiological tools to contribute to reducing the burden of CVD on the continent.

Patterns of international collaboration in cardiovascular research in sub-Saharan Africa

“…Some of the major multinational collaborative research projects that involve PASCAR include: the Awareness Surveillance Advocacy Prevention (ASAP) programme,31 the ASTRAL study targeted at controlling hypertension,32 the IMPI trial for the management of tuberculous pericarditis,33 and the Human Heredity and Health in Africa (H3Africa) initiative 34. These large initiatives are transforming the landscape of cardiovascular research in Africa, and the resulting enhanced capacity of African scientists will be evident from increased research productivity in this field and the contributions to knowledge that will ultimately benefit the continent.…”

Patterns of adult body mass in sub-Saharan Africa

“…The work in this Special Issue comes from a collaborative centre under the umbrella of the Human Heredity and Health in Africa Consortium (H3Africa), which aims to promote an understanding of genomic and environmental contributions to common traits in Africa by supporting studies led from the continent. The Africa Wits-INDEPTH Partnership for Genomic Studies (AWI-Gen Collaborative Centre) is one of six studies within H3Africa which has collected data relevant to obesity and several cardiovascular and metabolic traits [4]. By joining forces, these studies have established a joint vision and collaborative resource, referred to as the Cardiovascular H3Africa Innovation Resource (CHAIR), which aims to establish a large cohort of over 50,000 African participants from 13 African countries [5][6][7].…”

Environmental Health Research in Africa: Important Progress and Promising Opportunities

“…Genomic research in Africa is not limited to the bounds of this consortium, but it represents a research infrastructure that enables innovative science. For example, studies covering common diseases such as cardiovascular (Owolabi et al, 2014), neurological (Akinyemi et al, 2016), respiratory (Zar et al, 2016a;Zar et al, 2016b), kidney (Osafo et al, 2015), and other non-communicable diseases are represented in this consortium. Developments in pharmacogenomics (Warnich et al, 2011) and the human microbiome (Adebamowo et al, 2017) are also underway, and many studies incorporate information about HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, and other common infections in Africa.…”