Across Africa, people are living with conditions they do not know they have. Undetected high blood pressure leads to strokes. Unmanaged blood sugar leads to diabetes and end-stage kidney disease. Atrial fibrillation goes undiagnosed for years. These are not rare conditions. They are common, treatable, and stealing years from people’s lives because the systems to find them simply do not exist.

In The Gambia, there is one consultant cardiologist for 2.8 million people. A simple ECG, something we take for granted in Ireland, is only available in a handful of hospitals. For families in the Basse region, 377 kilometres from the country’s only cardiologist, getting a basic blood pressure check can mean a journey of days. People in their 30s and 40s are dying from strokes and heart failure caused by untreated high blood pressure. Conditions that are detectable, manageable, and preventable.

That reality is what HeartPath was built to address.

HeartPath is an Irish prevention platform powered by an intelligent clinical decision support system that enables organisations and communities to identify cardiovascular, metabolic, and renal risk early and take action before illness takes hold. It was designed specifically to work where specialist care cannot reach. Community health workers do not need clinical training to use it. The platform carries the clinical logic, guides each step, flags what needs escalation, and connects people directly to the care they need.

In The Gambia, we are building a nurse-led cardiometabolic prevention programme through RIVER BP-CARE, co-led with Dr Alhage Drammeh at the Ocean Health Foundation and Dr Lamin Jaiteh, consultant cardiologist at Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital in Banjul. Starting at Basse Community Health Centre, we are screening for hypertension, diabetes, heart failure, kidney disease, peripheral arterial disease, atrial fibrillation, and valvular disease, all in a single community visit. This is not a short-term mission. It is a sustainable prevention programme, building local capacity and empowering communities with the knowledge to understand their health before illness takes hold.

In Ghana, we are working with Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, with Professor Lambert leading the adult cardiology programme and Dr Christiana Adu-Takyi leading a paediatric cardiac pathway for children whose congenital and rheumatic heart conditions go undetected for years.  And beyond Ghana, the model is designed to scale.

We have just registered HeartPath Global Foundation CLG to anchor the Africa work under a social enterprise model.

Our GoFundMe campaign, “1 Cardiologist. 2.8 Million People. Help Karen Change That,” is raising the first €26,000 to get us into the field. Every €15 funds one lifesaving heart check.

Early detection saves lives. In Africa, it saves communities.

Karen Kelly
Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Heart Failure, Founder of HeartPath | HeartPath Foundation CLG (Company Limited by Guarantee), Member of the Irish Connected Health and Wellbeing Cluster.
karen@heartpath.health | heartpath.health | https://gofund.me/24197e046