RHD Action and our allies have campaigned for years to secure a global commitment on RHD. We launched the #TimeToTackleRHD campaign to collaborate with partners around the world to demand that governments and the World Health Organization act on this preventable disease.

On Tuesday 23 May, RHD Action and the World Heart Federation joined forces with NCD Child and other global health organizations to host a breakfast event themed around ‘Better Medicines for Children’. Guests included delegates from the World Health Organization, UNICEF, civil society, the private sector and national Ministries of Health.

Researchers from the Telethon Kids Institute are performing a study to assess the quality of benzathine penicillin G (BPG) worldwide.

The Kyrgyz Republic – or Kyrgyzstan – is a mountainous, landlocked country in Central Asia, with a population of around 5.7 million people. A 2009 study found that the Kyrgyz Republic had a high prevalence of rheumatic fever (RF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD), a situation made worse following an economic downturn after the collapse of the Soviet Union, which caused a corresponding decline in public health.