“RHD is a big problem here – it causes a lot of mortality. We have convened this meeting to find a way forward”, said Dr Emmy Okello, adult interventional cardiologist at the Uganda Heart Institute, in his opening remarks to the RHD Uganda Stakeholders’ Meeting.

Dr Asha Bowen is a Paediatric Infectious Diseases Specialist at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth, Western Australia. She is also a Research Fellow with the Wesfarmers Centre for Vaccines and Infectious Diseases at the Telethon Kids Institute. To mark World Antibiotic Awareness Week she recently joined us for a short Q&A to talk about antibotics used for group A streptococcal infections, and important considerations when using antibiotics for rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (RHD).

On 2-3 November 2017 at the Protea Hotel in Kampala, Uganda, a number of partners including the Ministry of Health of Uganda, Uganda Heart Institute (UHI), RHD Action, Children’s National Health System, and Case Western Reserve University, come together to participate in the Uganda RHD Stakeholders’ Meeting.

Representatives from RHD Action recently attended the 68th session of the WHO Regional Committee Meeting for the Western Pacific, held in Brisbane, Australia.