**2. Cardiovascular diseases as public health concern**

World Health Organization (WHO) reported that CVDs are the leading cause of death globally. In 2019 alone, approximately 17.9 million deaths associated with CVDs were reported, which constitute 32% of all global deaths. Around 85% or four in five CVDs deaths are due to heart attack and stroke [1]. However, in high-income countries, 80% of cardiovascular deaths are due to myocardial infarctions and strokes [11]. One-third of these deaths occur prematurely in patients diagnosed with CVDs and are under the age of 70 years. Many cases of cardiovascular diseases (about 80%) are mainly reported in low- and middle-income countries with higher mortality [1]. The burden and prevalence of CVDs are expected to increase considering the lifestyle and urbanization.

One million deaths due to CVDs were sub-Saharan Africa alone, resulting in 5.5% of all global and 11.3% of all CVDs deaths in the world and Africa, respectively [12]. Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death among non-communicable diseases, with about 38% of all non-communicable diseaserelated deaths in Africa due to CVDs. These are approximately twofold increase of CVD deaths since 1990, with over 10% difference in mortality among women compared with men [13]. Moreover, in South Africa, 215 persons die daily due to heart diseases or strokes, while every hour 5 and 10 persons die due to heart attacks and stroke, respectively [14].
