A proposal for the eradication of rheumatic fever in our lifetime

Abstract

The Pan African Society of Cardiology (PASCAR) convened the 1st All Africa Workshop on Rheumatic Fever (RF) and Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) on 15 16 October 2005 at the Champagne Sports Resort, Drakensberg, South Africa. The purpose of the Workshop was to formulate an action plan for the prevention of RF and RHD in Africa. The gathering was a response to the new guideline on the control of RF and RHD by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2004. The meeting (and this supplement) was made possible by the generous sponsorship of the national Department of Health of South Africa, the Medical Research Council of South Africa, the WHO Regional Office for Africa (WHO-AFRO) and the World Heart Federation, and endorsed by the Heart Foundation of South Africa, the Paediatric Cardiac Society of South Africa, and the South African Heart Association. The other organisations represented at the meeting included the Africa Heart Network, the Nigerian Heart Foundation, and academics from the universities of Alexandria, Cape Town, Ghana, Ibadan, KwaZulu-Natal, Libreville, Limpopo, Nairobi, Pretoria, and Eduardo Mondlane University.