The development of cardiac surgery in West Africa-the case of Ghana

West Africa is one of the poorest regions of the world. The sixteen nations listed by the United Nations in this sub-region have some of the lowest gross domestic products in the world. Health care infrastructure is deficient in most of these countries. Cardiac surgery, with its heavy financial outlay is unavailable in many West African countries. These facts notwithstanding, some West African countries have a proud history of open heart surgery not very well known even in African health care circles. Many African health care givers are under the erroneous impression that the cardiovascular surgical landscape of West Africa is blank. However, documented reports of open-heart surgery in Ghana dates as far back as 1964 when surface cooling was used by Ghanaian surgeons to close atrial septal defects. Ghana's National Cardiothoracic Center is still very active and is accredited by the West African College of Surgeons for the training of cardiothoracic surgeons. Reports from Nigeria indicate open-heart surgery taking place from 1974. Cote D'Ivoire had reported on its first 300 open-heart cases by 1983. Senegal reported open-heart surgery from 1995 and still runs an active center. Cameroon started out in 2009 with work done by an Italian group that ultimately aims to train indigenous surgeons to run the program. This review traces the development and current state of cardiothoracic surgery in West Africa with Ghana's National Cardiothoracic Center as the reference. It aims to dispel the notion that there are no major active cardiothoracic centers in the West African sub-region

COVID-19 in Ghana: Knowledge, perception and practice among health trainees

Objective: This study assessed the knowledge, perceptions and practices among health trainees in Ghana regarding COVID-19. Understanding the knowledge, perception and practices among health trainees can provide important information for policy formulations and proper planning.Method: The survey was conducted through a Google form link shared on students’ social media networks mainly through Facebook, and WhatsApp platforms. Responses received were imported to SPSS version 24 for cleaning and analysis. Output measures were demonstrated in simple frequency and percentages, using tables and charts. Fisher’s exact test was used to assess the effect of potential covariate on practice of preventive measures with their corresponding p-values.  Results: Twenty-five percent (25%) of respondents had good knowledge, 69% had moderate knowledge and 6% had poor knowledge on COVID-19. Regarding perception of health students on COVID-19, 8.47% indicated that drinking alcohol could protect them from the virus. More than 90% of participants’ practice the general preventive measures. Gender and level of program of study was found to be significantly associated with practice of preventive measure. Male students (54.64%) were engaged in good preventive practices compared to female students (43.75%).Conclusion: Majority of the health trainees had basic information and proactive practice towards COVID-19. Most trainees had good perception on the disease, however, a few still believe that drinking alcohol will prevent them from being infected with the disease. Gender and level of trainees are significant predictors of proactive practices towards COVID-19