Professor Charles Yankah (3rd L) with dignitaries
Global Health Care (GHC) in collaboration with Pan-African Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery (PASCaTS), and West African College of Surgeons has launched the 2026 Pan-African Cardiothoracic Surgery Summit in Accra, Ghana.
The event which will be held in February 2026 will create the platform for experts, decision makers and other stakeholders deliberate on enhancing cardiovascular diseases awareness.
Chief Executive Officer of Global Heart Forum and President of Global Heart Care, Professor Charles Yankah, speaking at the event which also doubled as the briefing for Ambassadors and High Commissioners of nations revealed that about 1.3 million children worldwide are born with congenital heart disease with about 48% dying at infancy.
He said Africa has about 75,000 children born with congenital heart disease emphasising the urgent need for health care providers to develop systems to help solve the issue.
He noted that Africa has to develop and implement its own projects underscoring that this can be achieved through collaboration and partnership.
Prof. Yankah further noted the importance of education and empowerment of young people through knowledge sharing.
“I am particularly involved in getting my knowledge into their hands so that it can guide them to develop their own science,” he said adding that specialists in this sector are few.
Provost of the College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Professor Alfred Edwin Yawson, explained that the Pan-African Cardiothoracic Surgery Summit will foster discussion towards improving cardiovascular treatment for children who are born with the disease.
He added that cardiovascular disease forms part of non-communicable diseases which are the major causes of death among Ghanaians.
“The cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, diabetes, heart-related conditions, the cancers, sickle cell disease, these are called non-communicable diseases and they take a huge toll on the population,” he said.
By Florence Asamoah Adom