World Heart Federation published first International guidelines for echocardiographic diagnosis of RHD in February. The outcome of over a year of consultation among experts involved in screening for RHD in endemic areas around the world, the new evidence-based guidelines clearly define not only what is considered to be a definite and a borderline case of RHD but also what is considered normal in children.

- Guidelines in Nature Reviews >

- TheHeart.org interview with Bo Remenyi >

- Press Release >

RHDAustralia launched a new site www.rhdaustralia.org.au

Includes a very nice resources database: http://www.rhdaustralia.org.au/resources

Includes reports, videos, guidelines, protocols and more.

Workshop in New Caledonia

The Agence Sanitaire et Sociale of New Caledonia (ASS-NC.) organized a workshop on RHD in December. Representatives from French Polynesia, New Caldenia, Australia and France joined New Caledonian participants to review recent developments and develop research collaboration.

HeartBeat Article Confronting Rheumatic Heart Disease in New Caledonia >

Cape Town RHD workshop

Cape Town ASAP team convened a combined Training and Regional Workshop for nurses and doctors in February. The main highlights were GCP training, and an Echo course where Liesl Zuhlke launched the WHF RHD Screening Echo Criteria.

Cape Town RHD video now available on You Tube >

The ASAP Programme, Cape Town, has produced a 7-minute awareness-raising resource detailing the experience of living with Rheumatic Heart Disease from a teenager's perspective. It can also been used as a lecture aid for undergraduate and post-graduate students. We sent the short PSA version earlier but now the whole film is available.

March 2012

RHDAustralia new website launched, containing useful source of information regarding acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease (ARF/RHD)

The resource section has a variety of resources related to ARF/RHD, and the advanced search function allows you to view resources by type, audience, and area.

February 2012

World Heart Federation Publishes First International Guidelines for Echocardiographic Diagnosis of Rheumatic Heart Disease >

October 2011

30 September 2011

On World Heart Day, Dr. Jonathan Carapetis television was interviewed about Rheumatic Heart Disease >

22 August 2011

Portuguese RHD materials are now available on RHDnet >

5 July 2011

April 2011

At the end of March, experts from countries around the world met to develop a standardized approach to the diagnosis of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) >

22 March 2011

Thanks to Partners in Health and excellent talks by Jonathan Carapetis, Bongani Mayosi, Ana Mocumbi, Joseph Mucumbitsi and others, RHD got excellent visibility at the Long Tail of Global Health Equity conference >

3 March 2011

A severe lack of awareness, advocacy and political will means hundreds of thousands of children and young adults are victims of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the world’s poorest countries, according to experts presenting today at the “The Long Tail of Global Health Equity: Tackling the Endemic Non-Communicable Diseases of the Bottom Billion” conference >