In the heart of Africa to tackle hypertension and diabetes, two of the main cardiovascular risk factors.
This is the goal of the international collaboration between the University of Milan-Bicocca and the Rwandan Ministry of Health, which over the next three years will involve lecturers, researchers and doctors from the University in supporting the development of high-quality skills among Rwandan healthcare professionals.
The agreement was announced today, Thursday 21 July 2022, during a workshop entitled “Rwanda College of Physicians Arterial Hypertension Symposium: measure BP and control it to prevent cardiovascular events in Africa”, which runs until tomorrow in the capital Kigali, attended by the Rwandan Minister of Health, Daniel M. Ngamije, and Professor Gianfranco Parati, the partnership’s scientific coordinator.
In Africa, approximately 2 million premature deaths among adults each year are attributed to diabetes and hypertension. Scientific studies estimate that, due to the lack of adequate health services, only 10 to 20% of people living with these conditions are regularly treated [1].
“In Africa, changing lifestyles have led to an explosion of non-infectious diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension,” explains Professor Gianfranco Parati, Professor of Cardiology at the Milan-Bicocca School of Medicine and Surgery and Scientific Director of the IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano in Milan. Health care, however, is prepared to mainly deal with acute infections, while experience in the management of chronic diseases, with the exception of HIV, which requires long-term treatment, is limited. This agreement with the government of Rwanda stems from this awareness and the consequent need for health professionals who are adequately trained and skilled in the management of risk factors and cardiovascular diseases.”
The university will play a key role on multiple levels: from raising public awareness of hypertension to training local health workers to assess hypertension-related problems, to defining a protocol for managing the disease and other cardiovascular risk factors.
The agreement therefore provides for the development of special training programmes; the initiation of collaborations with hospitals and universities in Rwanda to ensure high-quality medical education, promoting knowledge transfer, as well as exchanges between trainees, doctors and other health professionals; the setting up of post-doctoral fellowships in fields of interest to Rwanda; and the provision of medical equipment.
In addition to on-site support, which is already operational in a campaign to control hypertension in the rural area of Nyamyumba, on the border with Burundi, coordinated by Dr Franco Muggli of Lugano, in collaboration with the University, the Istituto Auxologico Italiano and the MABAWA Foundation, the project also involves training and sharing medical content through the university’s e-learning platform.
“With its interdisciplinary laboratories, a research environment financed by national and international programmes, and more than 34 specialisations in the fields of Health and Psychology, the university is ready to support the healthcare challenge faced by Rwanda, a country that is still trying to heal the wounds of the 1994 genocide, one of the most horrific humanitarian tragedies in history,” commented the Rector of Milan-Bicocca, Giovanna Iannantuoni.
[1] Parati G. et al. How to Improve Awareness, Treatment, and Control of Hypertension in Africa, and How to Reduce Its Consequences. A Call to Action From the World Hypertension League. Hypertension. 2022;79:00–00. DOI: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.121.18884