Researchers from The Kids Research Institute Australia are teaming up with leading health organisations from around Australia, sharing expertise and knowledge to end rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in this country.
Although it is generally considered to be a disease of developing nations, RHD persists in Australia’s Aboriginal communities at some of the highest rates in the world, affecting one in 43 Aboriginal people living in remote and rural areas.
The damage to the body caused by RHD is deadly – resulting in heart failure and other complications including stroke – but adhering to the prevention regimen of a penicillin injection every 28 days for a minimum of 10 years can prove very difficult.
The Kids Research Institute Australia Director Jonathan Carapetis leads the national Centre for Research Excellence to End RHD (the END RHD CRE), which is focusing on a series of evidence-based interventions to prevent and treat the infections that lead to acute rheumatic fever and RHD. 
These recommendations will form a National Endgame Strategy that will be put forward to the Australian Government in 2020. The team is also working on multiple strategies for the longer term, including more effective treatment options via long-acting penicillin, and developing a vaccine against the bacterial cause of the infection, Group A streptococcus.
In support of the Endgame Strategy, The Kids is spearheading an alliance of organisations who will act as the critical link between the research of the END RHD CRE and the health workers, families and community groups that will work together to end RHD in Australia.
Called the END RHD Coalition, the founding members of the partnership include the Australian Medical Association, Australian Heart Foundation, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), Menzies School of Health Research, Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) and the END RHD CRE based at The Kids Research Institute Australia.
"The new Coalition aims to mobilise the organisations and individuals who will need to work together to inform as well as implement the National Endgame Strategy," Professor Carapetis said.
“This will complement our research agenda to ensure that the Endgame Strategy is practical, acceptable and appropriate to communities, clinicians and government, and that we are ready to hit the ground running when the strategy is finalised.
“But of course we are not waiting until 2020. We know a lot about what needs to be done right now, so the Coalition will also raise awareness of the importance of RHD, and the resources and strategies required to make a difference.
“By working together, we can bring the burden of RHD for Aboriginal Australians down to the same level as non-Aboriginal Australians – ending the disparity of the disease once and for all,” Professor Carapetis concluded.
What’s Next?
A broad range of peak representative bodies, including Aboriginal health providers, cardiac societies and community organisations, will be approached to join the Coalition and provide their input & support for the 2020 National Endgame Strategy.
The Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines & Infectious Diseases at The Kids Research Institute Australia was established in 2014 thanks to a $5 million foundation grant from Wesfarmers Limited.
The Centre aims to prevent and improve the treatment of infectious diseases in children and adolescents, with reducing the high rates of rheumatic heart disease, lung, and ear infections in Aboriginal children a key area of focus.