Abstract

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) make up the leading cause of mortality in the world with 17.65 million deaths every year, of which more than 80% occurs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). (1) With the ongoing shift of the global burden of CVD towards low-resource settings, a mortality rate of 25 million deaths is projected in these regions by 2030. (2) Nevertheless, it is estimated that 93% of the population in LMICs do not have access to safe cardiac surgical care, due to lack of nearby facilities, limited specialist and allied health workforce, and high risk of catastrophic expenditure. As such, there is a pressing need to address the barriers in receiving cardiac surgical care.