Cardiovascular disease is the largest cause of death worldwide, accounting for 17.5 million deaths annually, 80% in low- and middle-income nations. However, because of a lack of infrastructure, human resources, and financial coverage, approximately 75% of the world’s population does not have cardiac surgery when needed. For a study, researchers sought to map global access to heart surgery. Access to cardiac surgery for an undifferentiated population was the subject of a scoping review. The numbers and ratios of adult and pediatric cardiac surgeons to the people were calculated using the Cardiothoracic Surgery Network database. In August 2017, the Cardiothoracic Surgery Network recognized 12,180 adult cardiac surgeons and 3858 pediatric cardiac surgeons, for a global total of 1.64 (0-181.82) adult cardiac surgeons and 0.52 (0-25.97) pediatric cardiac surgeons per million people. There were significant differences between regions, from 0.12 adult cardiac surgeons and 0.08 pediatric cardiac surgeons per million population (Sub-Saharan Africa) to 11.12 adult cardiac surgeons and 2.08 pediatric cardiac surgeons per million population(North America). Low-income nations had 0.04 adult cardiac surgeons and 0.03 pediatric cardiac surgeons per million people, but high-income countries had 7.15 adult cardiac surgeons and 1.67 pediatric cardiac surgeons.
A report depicted the present global condition of cardiac surgery access, with disparities across and within world regions and a link between a country’s economic level and availability to heart surgery. Low early mortality rates in low- and middle-income countries could benefit from high-quality heart surgery. More human and physical resources are needed, emphasizing safety, quality, and efficiency to expand access to cardiac surgery for the 4.5 billion people who do not have it.
Reference:www.jtcvs.org/article/S0022-5223(19)30935-3/fulltext
