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Mobile Phone Access Varies Widely in Sub-Saharan Africa; South Africa Leads

This is the first of two articles that examine access to information and communications technology in sub-Saharan Africa.

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Fifty-seven percent of the adult population — or more than an estimated 151 million people — have mobile phones across the 17 countries Gallup surveyed in sub-Saharan Africa in 2010. The percentage of adults with mobile phones ranges from a high of 84% in South Africa to a low of 16% in Central African Republic, signaling the potential for tremendous growth in the industry on the sub-continent.

Mobile telephone subscriptions have grown faster in Africa than in any other region in the world since 2003, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. Mobile phone adoption rates have soared in countries such as South Africa, where Gallup surveys show more than 8 in 10 adults now say they personally have mobile phones. But penetration still remains relatively low in several countries where adoption rates have been more sluggish, including Burkina Faso (19%), Niger (18%), and the Central African Republic (16%).

Mobile Phone Owners More Likely to Be Male, Older Than 18

The average mobile phone owner in the 17 sub-Saharan countries is more likely to be male (62%) than female (52%) and older than 18. Those between the ages of 15 and 18, and arguably with the least spending power, are less likely to say they have mobile phones than older adults. On average, 40% of 15- to 18-year-olds in these sub-Saharan African countries have mobile phones, but the percentage climbs to 63% among those aged 19 to 29 and remains higher than 60% for those between the ages of 30 and 45. Ownership drops off after that, with 51% of those 46 and older saying they have mobile phones.

he average mobile phone owner is also more likely to be educated. Across the 17 countries surveyed, 75% of those with at least nine years of formal education have a mobile phone, while 44% of those with up to eight years of formal education have a mobile phone. The highest rate of mobile phone ownership at each education level occurs in South Africa, where 76% of those with up to eight years of formal education have cell phones and 91% with higher education do. The lowest rate of mobile phone ownership for those with lower levels of education is 10% in the Central African Republic and the lowest rate among those with at least nine years of education is 40% in Liberia.

Location, Income Make a Difference in Most Countries

Urban sub-Saharan Africans are more likely to be mobile phone owners. Sixty-nine percent of sub-Saharan Africans living in urban areas in the 17 countries surveyed have a mobile phone, while significantly fewer living in rural areas, 53%, do. However, in Ghana (urban 58%, rural 60%), Nigeria (urban 77%, rural 66%), South Africa (urban 82%, rural 86%), and Zimbabwe (urban 54%, rural 39%), urban and rural dwellers are statistically as likely to have mobile phones.

Not surprisingly, household income and mobile phone ownership are also related. Those with a mobile phone report average per capita household incomes near $1,100 and those without a mobile phone report per capita household incomes lower than $740. This income pattern is present in all countries except Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa, where there is no statistical difference in per capita household income.

Implications

Mobile phone access in sub-Saharan Africa ranges widely by country. At the same time, men, those with higher education levels, urban residents, and those with higher per capita household income generally are more likely to have mobile phones. The challenge for the mobile phone industry is to expand from this base to rural and poorer areas, where cost will likely remain an obstacle to growth.

For complete data sets or custom research from the more than 150 countries Gallup continually surveys, please contact SocialandEconomicAnalysis@gallup.com or call 202.715.3030.

Survey Methods

Results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted in 2010 in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error ranges from ±3.4 percentage points to ±4.1 percentage points. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

For more complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup’s Country Data Set details.

Source: Gallup.com
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African Leaders Launch Malaria-Beating Scorecard

A coalition of African leaders on Monday launched a “scorecard for accountability and action” to track their progress in the fight against malaria, following on successes in battling the disease that claims hundreds of thousands of lives in Africa each year.

The 40-member African Leaders Malaria Alliance (Alma), which was launched two years ago, aims to bring malaria deaths to near zero across the continent by 2015 in line with United Nations Millennium Development Goals to improve health, reduce poverty and boost development in Africa.

“The evidence is becoming obvious. Malaria infection in Africa is receding,” Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete told a press conference on Monday in New York for the launch of the scorecard.

He said in recent years 11 malaria-endemic countries in Africa have been able to slash malaria cases by 50 percent.

“The Alma scorecard is a good idea, and in our view it is a powerful monitoring tool because it involves the heads of state at the highest level of leadership and brings a collective focus of governments and partners in the fight against malaria,” said Dr. Luis Gomes Sambo, regional director for Africa of the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Targeted Measures

Kikwete partially attributed the successes to specific measures: distribution of bed nets, residual spraying of insecticide, rapid diagnostic tests and administration of combination drug therapy.

Since 2008, he said, 229 million long-lasting insect-treated bed nets have been distributed in Africa, which he said was sufficient to achieve 84 percent coverage of those at risk of contracting the disease. Homes covered by indoor, residual spraying of insecticide had increased from 20 million to 75 million over the past five years.

The Alma scorecard will be updated quarterly with data on key health metrics across several malaria-endemic countries to help African leaders hold themselves and each other accountable for progress in anti-malaria goals. It aims to spur decisive action among leaders and provide greater transparency in the efforts to fight malaria.

The scorecard will also track indicators for maternal, newborn and child health.

Still a Killer

Kikwete noted that malaria was Africa’s leading killer, affecting 170 million people on the continent each year. A child dies from malaria every 45 seconds, according to the WHO.

Malaria also hurts development, with two percent of Africa’s GDP lost each year because of the illness. Production of goods and services is disrupted and poor families end up spending 25 percent of their incomes for treatment, he said.

Despite successes in combating malaria, Kikwete noted that challenges remain. He said gains must be sustained, access to interventions scaled up and new sources of revenue identified. Also member countries and donor partners need to improve their compliance with commitments to fight malaria.

“We have guided our countries in making great strides in the fight against malaria and we remain committed to do whatever it takes to overcome the remaining challenges and win this war,” Kikwete said.

“Losing is not an option.”

Local Interventions

Among the most successful countries in the malaria battle is Rwanda.

Malaria deaths dropped by 60 percent between 2005 and 2010 through a rapid scale-up of malaria interventions, according to Rwanda’s health ministry.

Rwandan Health Minister Agnes Binagwaho attributed this to an integrated approach with community health workers.

“But more than that we have focused our activities where the people were dying and where people were sick at the community level,” she told Monday’s press conference. “We have a national policy for community health. Our objective is to keep 80 percent of any burden at the community level where people are living.”

She urged other African leaders to come up with homegrown solutions for country ownership in their malaria fight. “You cannot replicate,” she said.

She urged a greater regional approach to fighting malaria, because mosquitoes cross borders, and the creation of public-private partnerships so that bed nets could be produced within Rwanda and on the continent as a whole.

If you like this article, I’d recommend my book “If I Was Famous, I’d Have a Lot to Say”

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Ghana Asamoah Gyan Defends Move from Sunderland to Al Ain

Ghana Striker Asamoah Gyan

CNN) — On loan Al Ain striker Asamoah Gyan has dismissed claims that his recent move from Sunderland to the United Arab Emirates was motivated by money. Talking to CNN’s Pedro Pinto, the Ghanaian also claimed there was no bad blood between him and Sunderland coach Steve Bruce after his last minute move to the Middle East.

“I’m still a player of Sunderland. I didn’t have any confrontation with anyone. We are still alright. I was cool with the manager,” he told CNN.

“People say I moved because of money….You need to be happy — although I’m not saying I wasn’t happy at Sunderland or I wasn’t happy in the [English] Premier League.

“I had to decide with my family and everything and they were alright with my decision so I had to just move…it helped myself and Sunderland as well.” Gyan’s move from Sunderland in the English Premier League to Al Ain, a club that hails from a city built around an oasis deep in the desert, was arguably the most controversial of the recent transfer window.

The Ghanaian scored ten goals in his 34 appearances for Sunderland and appeared to have adjusted well to the fast-paced English game.

But instead of building on his promising start Gyan opted to move to the Middle East instead.

“In life you have to experience things. I think moving here I don’t regret at all because Al Ain is a great club and I’m ready to give everything,” he explained.

“It’s another step in my life. Although I’m still a player of Sunderland. I came on loan so I’ll see how my future lies as Al Ain is an important club in Asia. I’m really, really happy to be here.”

Gyan will be joined by a host of stars in this year’s UAE Pro League. Maradona will be in charge of Dubai club Al Wasl, France international David Trezeguet has joined Abu Dhabi club Bani Yas whilst former Inter Milan midfielder Luis Jimenez will be playing at Al Ahli.

Last year’s champions, Al Jazira of Abu Dhabi, are bankrolled by Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al Nahyan

Whilst there are fabulous riches to be found in the UAE Pro League, it isn’t without its controversies. Attendances have been dire since the league went professional in 2008. The situation got so bad that the UAE FA disbanded the league and took it under their control last June.

Yet for Gyan the draw of Asian Champions League football was enough to convince him that the standard this season will be high.

“The English Premiership is one of the best in the world. I do respect that. I enjoyed myself really last season,” he said.

“Moving to the Asian league is another step in my life. Who knows maybe I can bring some exposure in the Asian league. I’ve got more fans in Africa and more fans in Europe also.

“I think the Asian league is also improving. Not just the big players going to the Asian league. It’s got a lot of great players…and they are enjoying their football here.”

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Naomi Campbell: Wardrobe Malfunction, Possibly Engaged?

Today in the world of Naomi Campbell, there is both good news and bad news.

The bad news first: the supermodel suffered a classic wardrobe malfunction last night, revealing more of her chest than she might have liked. After leaving the Toni&Guy show at London Fashion Week last night, Campbell had a slight nip slip while ducking into her car (and unfortunately for her, the Daily Mail‘s got the pics).

The good news: she may be engaged! Paired with her revealing black tuxedo-vest top, Campbell wore a giant diamond ring on her left hand, prompting Vogue UK to wonder aloud if the stunner is engaged to her boyfriend, Russian billionaire Vladislav Doronin.

The two have been dating since 2008 and live in Moscow together. There have been plenty of false “engaged!” alarms in the past, including this past April when the pair lit $82,000 worth of fireworks while vacationing in Greece.

But it’s still speculation, as Campbell did not confirm any rumors while chatting after last night’s fashion show.

Although it does get us thinking… we can only imagine a Campbell-billionaire wedding would rival Moss-stock in glitz and glam.

And of course, the million dollar question is: who will design the dress??

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Kofi Busia: A Stimulant For Today’s Democracy

Feature/Ghana/Africa Democracy

Ghanaians are enjoying their 19-year-old democracy. Why not! They have spent most of their 54-year statehood in autocratic one-party systems and dictatorial military juntas.

Freedoms, a very critical indicator of their democracy, are breaking out everywhere, wheeling the democratic tenets. One will never believe that this was a country where at some time people were gloomy, couldn’t express themselves openly for fear of either being killed, disappearing or imprisoned, and developed a disease aptly called “the culture of silence.”

But Ghanaians needn’t have gone through 35 years of nauseating undemocratic practices. Come to think of it, the excruciating contours were unnecessary. It doesn’t matter the political challenges along the path of statehood, democracy informed by Ghanaians’ cultural values should have directed the political system. From scratch, the Ghana state was founded on democracy. Though there are slight differences, the 100 ethnic groups that formed Ghana are traditionally democratic. The reminder is that whether Western liberal democracy or African traditional democracy, the erroneous view have been that Africans aren’t democratic by nature but inclined to authoritarianism. And that democracy planted in Africa from the Western world wouldn’t work.

Kofi Abrefa Busia, An academic and former Prime Minister of Ghana

Kofi Abrefa Busia,  a trained sociologist, academic and Prime Minister of Ghana from October 1, 1969 to January 13, 1972, not only rejected such views of prospects for African democracy back in 1961 when most Africa was embroiled in political turbulence but Busia becomes a rich stimulant, an excellent fertilizer for Ghana’s and Africa’s democracies. The African democratic fruition has also seen the imperative calls for Africans to situate their democracy in their cultural values. Rationally, US President Barack Obama has told Africans that when he visited Ghana in July 2009.

Despite some painful contours in Ghana’s political terrain, Busia believed unwavering that there are prospects for democracy in Africa. Like all democracies, it needs to be worked out. As Botswana has done from within African traditional values. The 44-year-old Botswana democracy that mixes Western liberal democratic ideals with Botswana cultural values makes Busia an African democracy realist way before the current thriving democratic atmosphere with its attendant democratic revolutions.

In The Prospects For Democracy In Africa, Busia agreed that coup d’etats, civil wars, political paralysis, tribalism, traditional tyranny (otherwise called the Big Man syndrome) and endemic corruption aren’t forecasts for democracy not to be grown in Africa. Rather democracy, with its accountability and decentralization, could be appropriated for democratic growth and progress. Busia thought that while such views are correct, such views should also look at the human possibility of the African – the possibility to correct himself or herself and be faithful in his or her democratic convictions.

This is seen against the notion that the only language the political African understands is authoritarianism. Busia strongly dismissed this. “Such hope would need to be firmly founded on faith: faith is the strength, the appeal and the universality of the values of democracy,” Busia said in London, UK on 4th January 1961, on the 18th Christmas Holiday Lectures and Discussions for Tomorrow’s Citizens, organized by The Council for Education in World Citizenship.

Unlike Botswana, either in Busia’s Ghana or other African states, most African leaders then had little faith and conviction in democracy. That’s the human aspects of the African to live a fruitful democratic life, as most African states are enjoying now, wasn’t looked at. Faith and conviction in democracy was either weak or nil. So crisis after crisis loomed either in Mobutu Sese Seko’s Zaire, Idi Amin’s Uganda or Amilcar Cabral’s Guinea Bissau. Busia himself became a victim of such predicament, when Col. Kutu Acheampong overthrew him in 13 January 1972. For years, under Ghana’s then authoritarian systems, Busia lived mostly in exile and died in exile in Oxford, UK. But was buried in a democratic Ghana.

The lack of faith and conviction in democracy in Africa, that didn’t consider the African veracities, means not understanding the democratic principles within Africans’ traditional values that should be tapped for greater democracy. Despite the extremely complicated nature of the insurgent-ridden African Great Lakes Region, that has come from undemocratic actions, greater democracy faithfully brewed from within African traditional values are the sure card to play. This makes the conviction for democracy stronger and not feeble, as has been the case. Busia was aware of this when he stated that, “The realization that the tender plant of parliamentary democracy planted on the African soil by Colonial powers is by no means robust, has caused apologists to offer easy explanations in defence of undemocratic actions.”

Botswana and Mauritius significantly repudiate the long held notion that democracy is “alien” to “African thought and way of life” (the quotes are from Busia). For their faithful and convinced democratic practices, Botswana and Mauritius lead in sub-Sahara Africa’s development indicators. Botswana and Mauritius also confirm Busia’s view that democracy isn’t unnecessary impediment to African states’ rapid progress. Busia notes that those who opposed democracy in Africa, and called for either authoritarian one-party systems or military juntas, identified two stumbling blocks – national unity and economic development.

The national unity card is played on “narrow tribal and regional loyalties re-assert themselves,” Busia supposed. The economic development tag, Busia explains, is engaged in authoritarianism as the “need for rapid economic development. Standards of living have to be raised considerably, and in as short a time as possible, and this, it is again argued, can only be done under a strong leader and a strong centralized regime that can adopt a planned economic and social development, and impose the necessary social discipline.”

Pretty much of most early post-colonial African states, intoxicated in the debilitating authoritarianism, bought erroneously into this idea. Either in Busia’ Ghana or other African states, it didn’t work but rather plunged Africa into civil wars, widespread corruption, state paralysis, misconstruction of Africa, frightening tribalism, all kinds of leaders (some horrible such Uganda’s Idi Amin and some insane such as Equatorial Guinea’s Francisco Marcia Nguema), among others.

On the other hand, African countries like Botswana and Mauritius, that convincingly choose democracy fermented in African traditional values, reveal today the Busian vision of democratic Africa in greater peace and greater development indicators. Busia, therefore, honestly asked, based pragmatically in the African experiences and traditional values,  “The question which we cannot avoid asking is whether economic development and nation building must mean authoritarianism and denial of freedom. Is it true that roads, railways, houses, harbours, factories and the like can only be quickly built under dictatorial forms of government?”

No matter where one turns to in Africa today, whether in oil rich Libya or diamond rich Sierra Leone or copper rich Zambia or cobalt rich the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Botswana and Mauritius, with their democratic practices of freedoms, social justice, the rule of law, equality, free press, decent leaders and good governance, accountability and transparency, choices, and public opinions, point inspirationally to the prospects for democracy in Africa as the best ways for Africa’s progress.

But the democracy has to be primed in African traditional values, history and experiences.

Busia was staunchly persuaded about this in 1961. “If attention is fixed on the human resources and human potentiality of Africa, the Vision of the triumph of democracy in Africa will become clearer and more challenging; that is, if there is the faith and the conviction that democracy represents the best way yet devised by man for community life, and that it is a way of life which is open to any group of men who choose and aspire towards it. Therein lies the challenge of faith which illumines the compelling Vision not only of a democratic West or a democratic Africa, but of a democratic World.”

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Ghanaian UBS Trader Kweku Adoboli Charged With Fraud

Mr Kweku Adoboli appeared before magistrates on Friday

Kweku Adoboli, the UBS trader alleged to have lost UBS $2bn (£1.3bn) in unauthorised trading, has appeared in court in London charged with fraud and false accounting.

He has been remanded in custody until a committal hearing on 22 September.

According to the charges, the fraud took place between January and September this year.

UBS is expected to provide more details of Mr Adoboli’s trading by Monday morning.

The charges add that Mr Adoboli filed false accounts between October 2008 and December 2009, and from January to September 2011.

The 31-year-old worked for UBS’s global synthetic equities division, buying and selling exchange traded funds, which track different types of stocks or commodities such as precious metals.

Prosecutors say Mr Adoboli “dishonestly abused that position intending thereby to make a gain for yourself, causing losses to UBS or to expose UBS to risk of loss”.

Political pressure

BBC business editor Robert Peston reports that Mr Adoboli worked in the back office before becoming a trader, which may explain how he managed to keep his trading secret.

“This revelation, that it may have been almost impossible for UBS to spot Mr Adoboli’s unauthorised dealings at an early stage, is expected to reinforce political pressure in Switzerland for UBS to hive off its investment bank,” our correspondent said.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA), the City regulator, is investigating why the Swiss bank did not identify the trades.

 “Start Quote

One banker described UBS’s inability to see what Mr Adoboli was doing as quite extraordinary.”

City of London Police said in a statement that its “investigation is ongoing and officers continue to work in close collaboration with the FSA (Financial Services Authority), SFO (Serious Fraud Office) and CPS (Crown Prosecution Service).”

Earlier, it emerged that UBS learnt of the unauthorised trades after being informed by Mr Adoboli.

“The disclosure that it was Mr Adoboli’s decision to inform his colleagues of his actions that set alarm bells ringing at UBS, rather than its own monitoring system, will add to concerns that investment banks simply aren’t capable of controlling the huge risks that their traders take,” Robert Peston said.

Mr Adoboli has taken on the law firm Kingsley Napley, which also represented Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who brought down Baring’s bank.

According to reports he is the son a retired United Nations employee from Ghana, and that he attended school and university in Britain.

‘Much riskier’

The credit rating agency Moody’s says it is reviewing UBS’s rating, focusing on “ongoing weaknesses” in the Swiss bank’s risk management.

Another agency, Standard & Poor’s, suggested it was considering lowering the bank’s A+ rating.

UBS lost £35bn in the 2007-8 banking crisis and had to be bailed out by Swiss taxpayers.

Moody’s said that although UBS was strong enough financially to absorb the loss, it had concerns about its risk controls.

“We have continued to express concerns with regards to the ability of management to develop a robust risk culture and effective control framework,” the agency said.

Job losses

Last month the bank announced 3,500 jobs cuts. Of the 65,000 staff worldwide about 6,000 are in the UK, with the bulk of UBS’s investment banking operations based in London and New York.

It has been reported that the fresh losses from the investment bank will lead to a major restructuring of the business, involving thousands more job losses, which will be announced in November.

“We believe that yesterday’s event could have personnel consequences on senior management level, which in turn could lead to adjustments to UBS’ business portfolio,” said Teresa Nielsen, an analyst at the Swiss bank Vontobel.

“The exit from non-core businesses inside the investment bank could be accelerated,” she added

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Looking At Money Makes The Mouth Water, Study Finds

Alexander Eichler

For all the reasons to pursue wealth that seem to be rooted in rational self-interest — money gives you more opportunities and greater freedom; it represents protection against cold and hunger; it allows you to create a comfortable life for your children — a deeper one might simply be this: money makes your mouth water.

Students who looked at pictures of money drooled the most.

That’s the conclusion of a study performed by David Gal, an assistant professor of marketing at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Gal had undergraduate participants look at various pictures while holding cotton dental rolls in their mouths. When he collected the rolls later and weighed them to see how much saliva they’d absorbed, he found that the students who looked at pictures of money had drooled the most.

How much a person salivates while thinking about money — or high-end consumer goods — seems to depend on their mindset at the time. For the pictures-of-money experiment, Gal first primed the students by having them write about either a time when they felt powerful or a time when they felt powerless.

The students who’d been made to feel powerless, it turned out, produced much more saliva when shown pictures of money, suggesting that at some level they were more focused on the question of how they might gain power.

Similarly, Gal asked one group of men to imagine going to the barber, while he showed pictures of attractive women to another group of men and asked them which ones they’d like to date. He then showed both groups pictures of expensive sports cars. One group salivated more than the other when looking at the cars — the men who’d been primed to think about dating.

According to Gal, the findings suggest that thinking about money and luxury goods activates the same neurological reward system as thinking about anything else desirable — food, for example, or mating.

Social psychologists have long thought that many people, whether consciously or unconsciously, want to acquire money not for the financial security it brings, but because it suggests power and may increase one’s sexual desirability.

 Gal’s experiment isn’t the first to demonstrate the direct physiological power of thinking about money. A couple of years ago, researchers found that test subjects who dipped their fingers in hot water after counting stacks of cash actually reported feeling less pain than subjects who dipped their fingers after counting stacks of blank paper.

Conversely, the fear of not having enough money seems to be strongly associated with certain negative health consequences. Numerous studies have pointed up the damaging physical- and mental-health effects of the economic slowdown and the foreclosure crisis, with anxiety, depression, hypertension, diabetes and compulsive behavior all linked to the stresses of losing one’s job or home.

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Marks on Eyelid Can Warn of Heart Attack

 Yellow markings on the eyelids are a sign of increased risk of heart attack and other illnesses, say researchers in Denmark.

A study published on the BMJ website showed patients with xanthelasmata were 48% more likely to have a heart attack.

Xanthelasmata, which are mostly made up of cholesterol, could be a sign of other fatty build-ups in the body.

Cardiologists said the findings could be used by doctors to help diagnose at-risk patients.

The research team at the Herlev Hospital in Denmark started following 12,745 people in the 1970s.

At the start of the study, 4.4% of patients had xanthelasmata.

Yellow alert

Thirty three years later, 1,872 had had a heart attack, 3,699 had developed heart disease and 8,507 had died – and the data showed that those with the yellow markings around the eyes were at greatest risk.

Those with the markings were 48% more likely to have a heart attack, 39% more likely to have developed heart disease and 14% more likely to have died during the study.

The authors believe patients with xanthelasmata may be more likely to deposit cholesterol around the body.

A build up of fatty material in the walls of arteries – known as atherosclerosis – leads to stroke and heart attack.

For both men and women in several age groups, the data said there was a one in five chance of developing heart disease in the next decade if the patient had xanthelasmata.

The authors said such patients were “generally considered to be at high risk” and should have “lifestyle changes and treatment to reduce [bad] cholesterol.”

However they warned that: “Today, most people with xanthelasmata are seen by dermatologists, when they want their xanthelasmata removed for cosmetic reasons.

“Some of these people may not have been managed according to their increased risk of cardiovascular disease.”

A review of the study, by US cardiologists Antonio Fernandez and Paul Thompson, concluded that: “Xanthelasmata could be used by general clinicians to help identify people at higher risk of cardiovascular disease.”

Judy O’Sullivan, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “There are many different techniques to predict someone’s risk of developing heart disease in the future, none of which are perfect. The most important thing is that any one of these techniques is used in the first place.”

James Gallagher
Health reporter