WN5

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Cardiovascular in Kenya

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Cardiovascular in Kenya

I. Introduction

A. Kenya is a third world country in Eastern Africa with a population of 54.7 million people.

B. The country is experiencing an epidemiological transition in its disease burden to non-communicable diseases like cardiovascular disease from infectious conditions, leading to a double disease burden (Tran et al., 2020).

C. Cardiovascular is a major public health problem with substantial economic and social implications in terms of lost productivity, healthcare needs, and premature deaths. Cardiovascular is the leading cause of death in Kenya, responsible for 365,744 deaths yearly, which is about 13% of the total deaths in Kenya (Tran et al., 2020).

D. Various social determinants of health, including poverty, education, and access to healthcare, are responsible for the disease’s high prevalence and mortality rates in the country.

E. The paper discusses cardiovascular disease in Kenya and the United States compares the disease in the two countries, discusses preventive interventions in both the US and Kenya, and then persuades the audience to accept the identified interventions.

II. Cardiovascular disease in Kenya (Where are we talking about diabetes and cancer, it should a paragraph of its own)

A. Cardiovascular disease is a severe health condition in Kenya fueled by the high adoption of unhealthy lifestyles among the Kenyan people (Aw et al., 2020).

B. Cardiovascular affects nearly every population; however, those aged above the age of 50 years are at high risk of developing and dying from the disease.

1. Men are at increased risk of developing the problem at earlier in their lives than females

2. Kenyans living in poverty are more likely to have the condition due to unhealthy diet that results in high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

3. Those consuming tobacco and alcohol have been found to develop the disease more than those who do not consume.

C. Studying cardiovascular disease in Kenya is important to identify magnitude of its impact and the most effective interventions to address the problem and relive Kenyan people the increased disease burden.

D. Not addressing the disease will increase prevalence of the disease in the country.

1. Many people will continue dying from the condition

2. The Kenyan healthcare system will be overburdened by the disease, reducing the quality of care received due to patient overcrowding and limited healthcare resources.

3. The overall population’s productivity will be reduced

E. Various social determiners of health are linked with the increased cardiovascular prevalence in Kenya. (Can we add low health literacy and education standard to the SDOH and community education as part of the helpful interventions)

1. Economic stability is a major social determiner of health affecting cardiovascular disease in Kenya

(a) Large proportion of Kenyans is poor, and cannot afford healthy lifestyle, then increasing the risk of CVD

(b) 1,000,000 people are living below poverty line (Wekesah et al., 2020).

2. Kenyans have limited access to healthcare services

(a) The country’s healthcare system is underfunded

III. Comparison of CVD in Kenya and the United States

A. In the US, men are more affected by the CVD with a prevalence of 8.3% than women who have prevalence of 6.1% (Caceres et al., 2020).

1. Non-Hispanic white male have the highest CVD prevalence followed by non-Hispanic black male and the Mexican American men (Black male has highest rate of CVD than any other race. You can research.)

2. The elderly are at increased risk of developing CVD

B. The affected population in the US greatly compares that in Kenya

1. In both countries, the condition is the leading cause of death

C. However, in Kenya, the effect of Cardiovascular disease does not appear to take more ethnic lines

D. Economic stability, education access and quality, and neighborhood and built environment are the major social determiners of health leading to high CVD prevalence in the US (Mannoh et al., 2021).

1. Healthcare access does not appear a major SDOH for CVD in the US as it is in Kenya.

IV. Community health education and regular health screening intervention can help reduce prevalence and mortality rates of CVD in both the US and Kenya.

A. In the two countries, the community health education is likely to be applied and achieve great success

B. However, health screening is more likely to be successful in the US due to higher health literacy which motivate people to go for regular health screening

C. Social determiners of health like level of education, neighborhood and build in environment and economic stability affects people’s ability to have healthy lifestyles like affording balanced diets, and engaging in physical activity, which increases the risk of developing CVD disease (Mannoh et al., 2021).

D. Community health education increases population awareness on healthy lifestyles, therefore reducing the risk of the cardiovascular disease.

V. Conclusion ( Can you focus on kenya for the conclusion and comparison between 2 countries can be added as additional content)

A. Cardiovascular disease is prevalent in both the United States and Kenya

B. Economic stability, healthcare access, education level and neighborhood are the major SDOH responsible for the CVD prevalence in the two countries

C. Community health education and regular screening are critical interventions to address CVD in the countries

References

Aw, M., Ochieng, B. O., Attambo, D., Opot, D., Aw, J., Francis, S., & Hawkes, M. T. (2020). Critical appraisal of a mHealth-assisted community-based cardiovascular disease risk screening program in rural Kenya: an operational research study. Pathogens and Global Health, 114(7), 379-387.

Caceres, B. A., Ancheta, A. J., Dorsen, C., Newlin-Lew, K., Edmondson, D., & Hughes, T. L. (2020). A population-based study of the intersection of sexual identity and race/ethnicity on physiological risk factors for CVD among US adults (ages 18–59). Ethnicity & health, 1-22.

Mannoh, I., Hussien, M., Commodore-Mensah, Y., & Michos, E. D. (2021). Impact of social determinants of health on cardiovascular disease prevention. Current opinion in cardiology, 36(5), 572-579.

Tran, D. N., Manji, I., Njuguna, B., Kamano, J., Laktabai, J., Tonui, E., ... & Pastakia, S. (2020). Solving the problem of access to cardiovascular medicines: revolving fund pharmacy models in rural western Kenya. BMJ Global Health, 5(11), e003116.

Wekesah, F. M., Klipstein-Grobusch, K., Grobbee, D. E., Kadengye, D., Asiki, G., & Kyobutungi, C. K. (2020). Determinants of mortality from cardiovascular disease in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Global heart, 15(1).