The prevalence of cardiovascular disease is a growing challenge in Egypt, the MENA region and Africa. It is by far the highest cause of death for non-communicable diseases, resulting in an estimated 1.5 million deaths annually across the African continent. Most of these deaths would be preventable if adequate facilities and well-trained medical staff were more readily available.

The Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation

Myriad Canada is working with the Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation (MYF). The Magdi Yacoub Heart Foundation (MYF) was founded in 2008 in order to provide high quality healthcare to the underprivileged in Egypt. Aswan Heart Centre (AHC) was built in Aswan as the nearest hospital at the time was too far to provide adequate healthcare to the people of the region. Since then, MYF has been committed to providing free, state of the art cardiac treatment to those who could otherwise not afford it.

AHC has achieved regional and international recognition as a centre of excellence for cardiac treatment, research and training. However, the demand for AHC’s medical services has exceeded its capacity, and so the decision to build a new hospital, the Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Centre – Cairo, was taken.

The new hospital will triple AHC’s current scale of operations and will accommodate complex patients from the MENA, Gulf, and Africa. With a project of this magnitude, we will have a great impact and be able to reach and help those who need it the most.

Goal

1. Expand Access to World-Class Treatment

The objective is to meet the increasing demand for cardiovascular care by expanding the size of the facility to be able to:

• Accommodate up to 120,000 outpatients
• Treat up to 12,000 patients

This would constitute a three-fold increase of the current capacity in Aswan. We particularly look forward to increasing the capacity to treat neonates with congenital heart disease. If treated at the centre, the child has a 95% chance of living a normal life.

2. Triple the Number of Training Graduates

Saving lives is not only about increasing the capacity of the facilities: we also need qualified staff to provide case, both at the new Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Centre and more broadly throughout the region. Therefore, we aim to expand the training program to train ~1,750 healthcare professionals and scientists annually (as opposed to 550 today), not only from Egypt, but from the region more broadly, while ensuring the continuation of the high level of quality we have provided up to date.

3. Develop an Advanced Scientific Research Centre

We aspire to develop a centre for innovation in heart-related medical research; with the objective of reducing the prevalence of cardiovascular disease in some of the poorest areas in Africa and developing advanced treatments for complex diseases.

The Magdi Yacoub Global Heart Centre will cover among other congenital heart diseases, the topic of precision medicine and diseases specific to the developing world (e.g. rheumatic disease). This research will benefit from exposure to the large number of cases to treat, covering cardiovascular disease specific to this geographic scope.

We also plan to create a broader hub for talented scientists and doctors by building an innovation unit to serve as an incubator for talent and innovation.