The Summit of African Union Heads of State and Government (AU Summit) has recently adopted the Addis Ababa Communiqué on Eradication of RHD. The adoption of this communiqué is a significant landmark on the path to tackling RHD in Africa; never before have heads of state come together so firmly to take action on this issue which blights the lives of many of the most marginalized children across the continent. The communiqué recommends several key actions for consideration by African governments. These include: establishing RHD registers; ensuring the supply of benzathine penicillin G; guaranteeing universal access to reproductive health services; strengthening primary healthcare to improve early detection, diagnosis, secondary prevention of RHD and treatment; as well as fostering multi-sectoral and integrated national RHD control programmes.

The communiqué also calls on international stakeholders to provide open-access resources to develop and strengthen country control programmes and to raise the profile of RHD and other NCDs of children and young adults among others. The AU and Pan African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR) – who have been instrumental in the development of the communiqué – have now been mandated to work with other stakeholders and the AU Commissioner to develop a detailed implementation plan of the recommended actions. We look forward to sharing more news with you as this work progresses.