RHEUMATIC HEART DISEASE IN THE PACIFIC ISLANDSA call to actionHealth professionals from the Pacific Islands are calling on policy-makers to make acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) a public health priority for people living in the Pacific Islands. At the First World Heart Federation and World Health Organization Workshop on Rheumatic Heart Disease held in Fiji in October 2006, healthcare providers and health officials from 11 Pacific Island states signed a formal Call to Action on October 13, 2006. Preventable death and disabilityRHD is a disease of poverty. It predominantly affects children and young adults and it is debilitating and often fatal. Despite being all but eliminated in wealthy countries, RF and RHD still affect between 15 and 20 million people in developing countries. People living in Pacific Island Nations have one of the world's highest prevalence of RHD: in some countries it affects as many as 8% of young adults and 4% of the children. World Heart Federation leads control effortsThe World Heart Federation coordinates rheumatic heart disease control in the Pacific, and is currently assisting demonstration programmes in Fiji and Samoa. Focusing on registration of patients and secondary prevention of acute rheumatic fever, the World Heart Federation programme has developed standardized diagnostic resources and training materials that can be adapted to the needs of other countries. These resources are available to health practitioners worldwide via the Internet-based World Heart Federation Global Centre of Excellence for the Control of Rheumatic Heart Disease. The first International workshop in Fiji included health officials and medical professionals from American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Cook Islands, Fiji, Nauru, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu and Wallis. Participants exchanged clinical experience and discussed barriers to disease prevention in their own countries, some of which spend up to 10% of their total health budgets sending rheumatic heart disease patients abroad for surgery. "For most Pacific Island countries, the cost of three heart valve operations would fund a countrywide prevention programme for a year," said Dr Jonathan Carapetis, Chair of the World Heart Federation Scientific Council on Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease. Practicing in isolated conditions, workshop participants were able to exchange and draw on the experiences of others. "It has been an eye-opener to realize that others share the same problems as we do," said one participant. "Hopefully we can also share some solutions." The Call to Action calls on Pacific Island Governments as well as non-government funding organisations to recognize the burden of RHD in the Pacific and work together to establish and maintain effective control strategies. A second Pacific workshop on Rheumatic Heart Disease is planned for 2007. | |||||||
|