to prevent RHD in the bottom billion

Global: Urgent action needed to prevent RHD in the bottom billion

Press release from the World Heart Federation (http://bit.ly/eQckxK):

URGENT ACTION NEEDED TO STOP RHEUMATIC HEART DISEASE FROM KILLING AND DISABLING PEOPLE IN THE "BOTTOM BILLION"

March 3, 2011 (Boston, USA) - A severe lack of awareness, advocacy and political will means hundreds of thousands of children and young adults are victims of rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in the world's poorest countries, according to experts presenting today at the "The Long Tail of Global Health Equity: Tackling the Endemic Non-Communicable Diseases of the Bottom Billion" conference hosted by the Harvard Medical School Department of Global Health and Social Medicine (DGHSM). The conference was organized by Partners In Health (PIH) in collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), The Global Taskforce on Expanding Access to Cancer Care & Control in Developing Countries, and the NCDAlliance.

"RHD needlessly kills and disables people living in extreme poverty," said Johanna Ralston, Chief Executive Officer of World Heart Federation from the meeting at Harvard. "High prevalence of the disease has become a marker of poverty and an important factor feeding growing health inequities."/.../