Telethon Kids Institute receive NHMRC funding to launch the END RHD CRE.

Working as part of a national collaboration, the END RHD CRE was set up to produce a costed, step-wise strategy to end rheumatic heart disease (RHD) as public health priority in Australia. The RHD Endgame Strategy will be delivered to the Commonwealth as the RHD Endgame Report in 2020.

The END RHD CRE is the first time that any country has had an opportunity to build a comprehensive, evidence based strategy for ending rheumatic heart disease. The strategy will include an 11-year plan to achieve disease control by 2031, reducing the incidence of acute rheumatic fever and bringing the prevalence of RHD for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians down to the same level as non-Aboriginal Australians. This project represents a tremendous challenge and an untold opportunity to ‘close the gap’ and end the disparity for our Aboriginal communities. 

The END RHD CRE’s vision is to develop an endgame for rheumatic heart disease in Australia.

To do this, the END RHD CRE will:

• put the individuals and communities living with RHD at the centre of the work of the END RHD CRE and hold ourselves ultimately accountable to them.
• collate existing research knowledge, identify gaps and grasp the effect of potential interventions.
• commit to excellence in basic science and research translation which will amplify the impact of research in other fields and strengthen the health system of Australia.
• commit to identifying a set of costed, step-wise interventions which are most likely to reduce the incidence of ARF and the prevalence of RHD for Indigenous Australians to the same level as non-Indigenous Australians.
• focus the resources of the END RHD CRE on supporting research participation, convening stakeholders, developing a cohesive network and seeding research projects that can leverage additional funding from other sources.
• strive for the END RHD CRE to be a ‘single point of entry’ for students, researchers and collaborators working to understand and address RHD in Australia.

View the END RHD CRE Prospectus 

More news on the END RHD CRE

END RHD CRE - Developing an endgame for rheumatic heart disease in Australia News (News article 2015)

What will it take to end rheumatic heart disease in Australia? (News article 2017)