RHD Action

• Australia
• English
• Communities

Presented at the RHDAustralia Evening Symposium, Brisbane, 22 March 2016. Professor Carapetis is Director of Telethon Kids Institute and Director of RhEACH (Rheumatic Heart Disease Evidence Advocacy Communication Hope), a technical support and policy translation initiative to amplify rheumatic heart disease control efforts locally, regionally and globally.

• Australia
• English
• Communities

Presented at the RHDAustralia Evening Symposium, Brisbane, 22 March 2016. Claire Boardman is Deputy Director of RHDAustralia.

• International
• English
• Communities

About this Status Report

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a truly global problem, causing premature death and disability in almost every region of the world. However, even RHD experts have several unanswered questions and RHD remains completely unknown by many people, despite it being a major cause of premature death in children, young people and pregnant women. Lack of resources and political will have hindered the RHD community from bringing together its expertise to find global solutions to tackle RHD at the local level.

But this is changing. Since the dawn of the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015 and the simultaneous formation of the RHD Action movement, the RHD community has continued to work hard to pool knowledge and resources.

Tools such as the online RHD Atlas are now mapping RHD programmes from around the world (including those featured as case studies in this report). The RHD Resource Hub is now providing the world’s first ‘one-stop-shop’ repository of multilingual RHD materials, which can be accessed freely online.

This Status Report builds on existing progress by giving global insights on the people, policies and programmes that work together to end RHD:

• By exploring the PEOPLE living with RHD, and those who support them, RHD is lifted out of the abstract and grounded in real-life experience.
• By understanding the complex POLICY environment, we can identify opportunities to push RHD forward on national, regional and global agendas.
• By comparing and contrasting RHD PROGRAMMES from around the world, we get a clear picture of what is working and how much progress is being made on the ground.

RHD prevention and control is improving day by day. The RHD Action movement exists to drive this momentum on behalf of the 32 million people currently living with RHD around the world.

We hope you enjoy this Status Report – thank you for supporting our work.
www.rhdaction.org

• International
• English
• Communities

Known trade names of benzathine penicillin G | Annex B of the Global Status of BPG Report

• International
• English
• Communities

Mapping of BPG National Essential Medicines Lists | Annex A of the Global Status of BPG Report

• International
• English
• Communities

To address the worldwide burden posed by CVD and to ensure sustainable development in our cities, this report calls for urgent action by all stakeholders to address the negative socio-economic implications of urbanization in order to protect our children’s heart health. The world’s cities are pivotal places where positive change is occurring and can continue to happen. We present several case studies showing that informed action by governments and key stakeholders who take a whole-of-society approach, can dramatically reduce the level of CVD risk.

This report was produced by the World Heart Federation

Further information as follows:
World Heart Federation: Urbanization and CVD

• Australia
• English
• Communities

An entirely preventable condition called rheumatic heart disease is leaving Indigenous children with severe and irreversible heart damage.

Melissa Davey, Guardian Australia
Published online Saturday 26 March 2016

• Australia
• English
• Communities

In rural and remote Indigenous communities throughout Australia, and particularly in the Northern Territory, it is not uncommon to see children as young as seven carrying the long scars of open-heart surgery running vertically down their chest. Melissa Davey describes what she saw on a trip to the Tiwi Islands and what needs to be done to stop children from needing the invasive operation.

Melissa Davey talks to Miles Martignoni about what she saw in the Tiwi Islands: an entirely preventable condition called rheumatic heart disease, which is only found in the most disadvantaged areas of developing countries such as Africa, the Middle East and central and south Asia. But it is also found in Australia, in remote Indigenous communities plagued by social disadvantage. And, in those communities, it overwhelmingly affects children. The average lifespan for a child after having heart valve replacement surgery is just 10 years and in the podcast we find out why.

Guardian Australia travelled to Bathurst Island as a guest of Bupa. You can find more information about RHD and Take Heart here.

Guardian Australia Behind the Lines Podcast, published online Saturday 26 March 2016

• Namibia
• English
• Communities

A short news report focusing on rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease in Namibia. Dr Chris Hugo-Hamman and the The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Bernhard Haufiku are both interviewed and discuss the situation in Namibia.

Produced by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation

• Australia
• English
• Clinician - nurse

The framework presents a case for a nurse practitioner role in the prevention and management of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD). The majority of ARF and RHD patients in Australia are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote and rural areas where remoteness; transient population; poor living and education standards; high health practitioner turnover; and limited knowledge of the disease all contribute to delays and deficiencies in health service delivery and, ultimately, to the burden of disease. The framework demonstrates how a nurse practitioner could play a pivotal role in building the capacity of the health service to provide a more systematic, timely and coordinated approach to addressing service gaps and improving outcomes in the management of ARF and RHD.

• Australia
• Burarra
• Communities

This short film carries important health warnings and information about preventing acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Key messages for communities and families about the impact of acute rheumatic fever: people with rheumatic fever need penicillin in their body all the time to kill any strep germs and prevent heart damage; to prevent rheumatic fever; wash your hands; keep a clean house to keep the Strep germ away; and treat skin sores and sore throats. The film is now available in English and five other Indigenous languages. All are available in the RHDA resource database. The original film in Bururra language was produced in response to a health emergency (an outbreak of acute rheumatic fever) in the Indigenous community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory.

• Australia
• Anindilyakwa
• Communities

This short film carries important health warnings and information about preventing acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Key messages for communities and families about the impact of acute rheumatic fever: people with rheumatic fever need penicillin in their body all the time to kill any strep germs and prevent heart damage; to prevent rheumatic fever; wash your hands; keep a clean house to keep the Strep germ away; and treat skin sores and sore throats. The film is now available in English and five other Indigenous languages. All are available in the RHDA resource database. The original film in Bururra language was produced in response to a health emergency (an outbreak of acute rheumatic fever) in the Indigenous community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory.

• Australia
• Yolgnu Matha
• Communities

This short film carries important health warnings and information about preventing acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Key messages for communities and families about the impact of acute rheumatic fever: people with rheumatic fever need penicillin in their body all the time to kill any strep germs and prevent heart damage; to prevent rheumatic fever; wash your hands; keep a clean house to keep the Strep germ away; and treat skin sores and sore throats. The film is now available in English and five other Indigenous languages. All are available in the RHDA resource database. The original film in Bururra language was produced in response to a health emergency (an outbreak of acute rheumatic fever) in the Indigenous community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory.

• Australia
• Pitjantjatjara
• Communities

This short film carries important health warnings and information about preventing acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Key messages for communities and families about the impact of acute rheumatic fever: people with rheumatic fever need penicillin in their body all the time to kill any strep germs and prevent heart damage; to prevent rheumatic fever; wash your hands; keep a clean house to keep the Strep germ away; and treat skin sores and sore throats. The film is now available in English and five other Indigenous languages. All are available in the RHDA resource database. The original film in Bururra language was produced in response to a health emergency (an outbreak of acute rheumatic fever) in the Indigenous community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory.

• Australia
• Warlpiri
• Communities

This short film carries important health warnings and information about preventing acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Key messages for communities and families about the impact of acute rheumatic fever: people with rheumatic fever need penicillin in their body all the time to kill any strep germs and prevent heart damage; to prevent rheumatic fever; wash your hands; keep a clean house to keep the Strep germ away; and treat skin sores and sore throats. The film is now available in English and five other Indigenous languages. All are available in the RHDA resource database. The original film in Bururra language was produced in response to a health emergency (an outbreak of acute rheumatic fever) in the Indigenous community of Maningrida in the Northern Territory.