A newly established Parliamentary Friends Group has joined the growing national effort to eliminate rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Australia - a preventable condition that continues to disproportionately impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Launched in Canberra this week, the group is co-chaired by federal MPs Matt Smith, Shadow Minister for Indigenous Affairs Julian Leeser, and Independent MP Allegra Spender.
The launch saw parliamentarians, community leaders, Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations, the RHD Alliance and researchers unite to accelerate action to end new cases of rheumatic heart disease.
RHD is an entirely preventable disease that has been almost eradicated in non-Indigenous communities, yet more than 11,000 Australians are currently living with acute rheumatic fever or RHD.
RHD and its precursor, acute rheumatic fever (ARF), continue to have a devastating impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Despite being eliminated in almost all other first world nations, rates are increasing in Australia, particularly among Aboriginal girls and young children.
Starting with an untreated Strep A infection on the skin or in the throat, RHD is driven by the social conditions of poverty, including overcrowded housing, limited access to hygiene infrastructure and barriers to early treatment.
NACCHO, the national authority on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, is leading Australia’s first ever Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled sector-led ARF and RHD Program.
The RHD Alliance brings together research, clinical, community and philanthropic organisations to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led efforts to eliminate rheumatic heart disease by 2030 in line with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
The Parliamentary Friends group will provide a bipartisan forum to champion Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led successes and reflect on the important progress that is being made through community-controlled approaches, and maintain accountability for national progress toward eliminating RHD.
Federal MP Matt Smith, whose North Queensland electorate of Leichardt is significantly impacted by RHD in communities across the Cape and Torres Strait, emphasised the need to empower First Nations communities to eliminate it.
"What we need through community control is to create a culturally appropriate community led response, because it is only through the bottom up, through the grassroots campaigns that this is going to be arrested - top down doesn't work,” he said.
Speaking at the Launch, RHD Alliance Convenor and Snow Foundation CEO Georgina Byron highlighted the important role Parliamentary Friends group will play in the fight against RHD.
“The Parliamentary Friends group will help keep rheumatic heart disease in front of decision-makers and strengthen support for the long-term investment needed to end new cases,” she said.
The Snow Foundation – a Canberra based philanthropic organisation has worked alongside partners for 15 years to help eliminate RHD, backing community and First Nations leadership, and supporting socio, environmental and clinical innovation.
You can watch Take Heart: Songlines, the third film in a documentary series highlighting the impact of RHD on First Nations communities, on SBS On Demand.
