Rheumatic Fever Week in South Africa

The National Department of Health of South Africa declared the week of 3-7 August 2009 as Rheumatic Fever Week. ProCor ran daily briefings on various aspects of the worldwide campaign to prevent and eventually eradicate rheumatic fever 'in our own lifetime.'

2009 Rheumatic Fever Week Briefings - The First Salvo in a Global Campaign to 'Stop Rheumatic Fever by 2020' 
In this commentary, Dr. Bongani Mayosi, who organized the series of briefings, discusses the imipact of Rheumatic Fever Week and the necessity of ongoing global collaborative efforts...

Day 1 Briefing:  The A.S.A.P. Programme for the Prevention of Rheumatic Fever in Africa (3 Aug 2009)
Today we focus on the global neglect of the disease in research terms and the A.S.A.P. Programme in Africa that seeks to reverse this trend.

Day 2 Briefing: RHDnet - The first global network dedicated to rheumatic heart disease  (4 Aug 2009)
The Rheumatic Heart Disease Network (RHDnet) is the World Heart Federation's internet-based resource and communication center for rheumatic heart disease. It has been developed as a free resource for health professionals and communities around the world.

Day 3 Briefing: Do you want to join a global registry of rheumatic heart disease? (5 Aug 2009)
A prospective, international, multi-center registry of 3000 rheumatic heart disease patients is being recruited from centers in Canada, India, China, Egypt, and participating countries from Africa and South America. Coordinated by the Population Health Research Institute in Hamilton, Canada, this is an initial attempt to formally compare patient and practice profiles of rheumatic valvular disease in developed and developing countries.

Day 4 Briefing: WHF program shows early success in Asia Pacific Region (6 Aug 2009)
The World Heart Federation has focused support for rheumatic heart disease control in the Pacific region where the burden of disease is high.

Day 5 Briefing: Tonga MOH aims to screen all schoolchildren for rheumatic heart disease (7 Aug 2009)
In 2003, Dr. Toa Fakakovikaetau embarked on an echocardiography screening program to determine the prevalence of rheumatic heart disease among primary school children in Tonga. Based on the alarmingly high incidence of RHD identified by the pilot screening program, Dr. Toa and other partners initiated more widwspread screening, treatment, and a registry. The program's data convinced Tonga's Ministry of Health that RHD represents a very high priority in child health, and has resulted in a national campaign to eliminate RHD by 2020.

Date Posted: 7 August 2009