The first cardioverter defibrillator implanted in Central Africa.

Sudden cardiac deaths, which account for approximately 350 000 deaths each year, is a major health care problem. Antiarrhythmic drugs have not been reliable in preventing sudden cardiac death. Although β-blockers, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and revascularization play a role in prevention of sudden cardiac death, the development and subsequent refinement of the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator has made the most important contribution to its management.

The first coronary by-pass grafting surgery done in western and central Africa.

Africa bears a significant proportion of the global burden of chronic diseases, along with poor countries of Asia and Latin America. The World Health Organisation projects that over the next ten years the Continent will experience the largest increase in death rates from cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory disease and diabetes. Probably for the first time in Western and Central Africa, the very first coronary artery bypass surgery grafting was performed in the Cardiac Centre of Shisong in Cameroon.