Arabic version: إعلان بيرث يحدد عام 2040 هدفاً للقضاء على مرض القلب الروماتيزمي
According to ABC News, public health experts gathering in Perth are set to endorse the Perth Declaration, a global plan to eliminate acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease by 2040. The declaration says the world already knows how to prevent and treat the conditions, but needs political will to do so.
Rheumatic heart disease is permanent damage to a heart valve caused by one or more episodes of acute rheumatic fever, which can arise from an untreated group A streptococcus bacterial infection. Both conditions are preventable. The disease is closely linked to overcrowded housing and poor hygiene, where limited access to clean water or washing machines can allow skin and throat infections to spread.
Australia has almost 12,000 people living with rheumatic heart disease or with a history of acute rheumatic fever. First Nations people account for four in five cases and die from rheumatic heart disease at more than five times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians. The highest rates of acute rheumatic fever are among First Nations children aged 5 to 14.
World Health Federation head Jagat Narula told conference delegates that the condition was not a disease of poor countries but “a disease of poor conditions”. Australia’s Endgame Strategy aims to end rheumatic heart disease by 2031, but Professor Narula said only a small proportion of the required $689 million had been committed. The federal government said it was investing $95.8 million over six years, funding announced in 2021, to prevent and treat the disease.
The Perth Declaration calls for long-term government funding, investment in housing, water and environmental health, support for Indigenous community-controlled organisations, reliable antibiotic supplies, vaccine development, and registration and follow-up for every diagnosed person. It also highlights workforce, medication and testing challenges in Pacific nations, where an estimated 1 to 3 per cent of people have rheumatic heart disease.
