Narrative review in pediatric and congenital heart surgery in sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and opportunities in a new era

Objective: Describe the dimension of this problem, present the challenges and show opportunities and probable solutions. Background: Congenital heart disease (CHD) remains a public health problem in developing countries, accounting for a significant portion of child mortality. In sub-Saharan Africa, this situation appears to be worse and requires urgent intervention. Methods: A narrative overview of the literature was carried out that summarizes the situation of pediatric and congenital heart surgery in sub-Saharan Africa with a focus on challenges and opportunities in this region of the world. Conclusions: A series of coordinated actions including governmental action (creation of laws and financing infrastructure) supplemented by non-governmental organizations (financial support for training, and education) are highly desirable. The challenges are many and widely described in the literature. However, with the continuous interest of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery in Africa and the creation of the African Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, a great opportunity emerges as never before. This will certainly help efforts to improve the care of these children with CHD in one of the poorest regions on the planet.