Assessment of the financial gaps in cardiothoracic surgery in africa.

Objectives: This study accessed the challenges with financing cardiothoracic surgical care in Africa, highlighting the present state of funding, and proffering probable solutions to adequate and effective funding in the region.

Methods: Through a literature review, the authors elaborate on key points such as; areas of financial funding in cardiothoracic surgery, barriers to appropriate allocation of financial resources for cardiothoracic surgery in Africa, and the needs and available resources for cardiothoracic surgery in Africa. Multiple search engines and databases were used, like: PubMed, Medline, Cochrane, Scopus, and Google Scholar. 60 articles were identified, and 50 out of the 60 were used for this review.

Results: The surgery for cardiovascular and thoracic diseases on this continent has been noted to be expensive, and this tends to cause significant morbidity and mortality among the affected individuals. This is because payment is largely out of pocket and the coverage by health insurance schemes is quite low. Even the establishment of cardiothoracic surgical centers and the delivery of cardiothoracic surgical care are expensive, limiting access to care for patients without comprehensive health insurance or philanthropic support. These are attributed majorly to inadequate funding.

Conclusions: We therefore recommend advocating for increased funding and policy support to prioritize cardiothoracic care within national and regional healthcare agendas, as this will give cardiothoracic surgery grounds in global and national healthcare plans. Non-Governmental Organisations and major industries (foreign and local) should be encouraged to invest substantial funds into building and developing cardiothoracic surgery centres in Africa.