Time to tackle rheumatic heart disease: Data needed to drive global policy dialogues

ABSTRACT

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is an avoidable disease of poverty that persists predominantly in low resource settings and among Indigenous and other high-risk populations in some high-income nations. Following a period of relative global policy inertia on RHD, recent years have seen a resurgence of research, policy and civil society activity to tackle RHD; this has culminated in growing momentum at the highest levels of global health diplomacy to definitively address this disease of disadvantage. RHD is inextricably entangled with the global development agenda, and effective RHD action requires concerted efforts both within and beyond the health policy sphere. This report provides an update on the contemporary global and regional policy landscapes relevant to RHD, and highlights the fundamental importance of good data to inform these policy dialogues, monitor systems responses and ensure that no one is left behind.

KEYWORDS:

• Rheumatic heart disease
• rheumatic fever
• global health policy
• burden of disease
• global development

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the immense contribution of Professor Bongani Mayosi in the field of Rheumatic Heart Disease. We dedicate the ongoing work against RHD to his memory.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Bongani Mayosi http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6641-8950

Additional information

Funding

MA, RW, SL and LZ are partially funded by Medtronic through funding to RHD Action.