I wanted to share with you our paper on the global burden of congenital heart disease (CHD) that was published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health last week (https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(19)30402-X/fulltext#section-3d6acba1-acea-4be2-8dc9-b7e14e5b6583). As we expected, CHD has climbed to be number 2 and 4 cause of infant mortality in high-middle and middle SDI countries and to number 8 and 7 cause of infant mortality in low and low-middle SDI countries.
The paper also earned an editorial https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanchi/article/PIIS2352-4642(19)30429-8/fulltext
Here are a few key figures:
• CHD caused globally 261,247 deaths in 2017 (34.5% decline from 1990)
• 180,624 were infants; 85% of deaths were in low-income countries
• 11,998,283 people lived with CHD globally in 2017 (18.7% increase from 1990), causing 589,479 years lived with disability
These are the most comprehensive international estimates of CHD we have to date. The paper provides critical information for places where data previously did not exist, providing countries leverage to advocate for more investments in CHD care.
CHIFA profile: Bistra Zheleva is the Vice President of International Programs at Children's HeartLink in the USA. Professional interests: access to high quality
pediatric cardiac care in the developing world. bistra AT childrensheartlink.org
