Cardiovascular disease in sub-Saharan Africa.

Open your eyes to Africa. It is big, complex and confounding,” says the British Medical Journal of October 1, 2005.1 It has some of world’s richest natural resources in minerals and oil. Yet 34 of the world’s 41 indebted poor countries are in Africa, and only 37% of Africa’s children attend secondary school. Africa, with one sixth of the world’s population, accounts for one fiftieth of the global trade. We also read of wars, civil disturbances, and devastating chronic diseases such as malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. The problems seem insuperable. “Who takes responsibility for Zimbabwe?” asked The Lancet in despair in a recent editorial.2