THE fact that there is an excess of 3000 people who are living with rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Fiji from 2007 is worrying.
The head of pediatrics and consultant at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital Dr Joseph Kado said the Rheumatic Heart Disease Control had a database of people living with RHD and it recorded an excess of 2400 cases.
The control program was started in 2007. However, he said, some patients were known but were not on the database.
Part of research efforts, he said, was to try and get all those numbers on to the database.
An estimate places the number of people living with RHD in excess of 3000.
The World Heart Federation lists RHD as the most common acquired heart disease in children in many countries, especially developing countries.
RHD is a chronic heart condition caused by rheumatic fever which is caused by a preceding group A streptococcal (strep) infection which can be treated with antibiotics.
What is important though is the fact that it can be treated.
That perhaps, should initiate action to ensure our children understand why a sore throat can be damaging for the heart.
The WHF believes a decline of rheumatic fever in developed countries could be because of improved living conditions and availability of antibiotics for treatment of group A streptococcal infection.
It points out that overcrowding, poor housing conditions, under-nutrition and lack of access to healthcare play a role in the persistence of this disease in developing countries.
It estimates that at least 15.6 million people are currently affected by RHD with a significant number of them requiring repeated hospitalisation and, often unaffordable, heart surgery in the next five to 20 years.
Given this scenario, it becomes imperative then that a major awareness campaign is driven to help our students and parents understand the illness.
It should be about understanding the disease, its causes, preventative measures that can be put in place, action to be taken when one gets it and the implications when a loved has it. Understandably then one would be inclined to accept that prevention is better than cure.
Let us develop a sense of responsibility when it comes to the health of our children.
There is often a tendency to treat the complaints of our children lightly. We will continue to do so at the risk of them developing a serious illness in the future.
RHD deserves a lot of attention.
