Abstract
Rheumatic fever is a major health priority for the current Government, and remains perhaps the most extreme example of an avoidable health disparity in this country. There is now substantial research underway to identify the causes of rheumatic fever in New Zealand, and to assess approaches to reduce the incidence and impact of this disease. Much of this research has been funded by a collaborative partnership between the Human Rights Commission (HRC), the Heart Foundation, CureKidz, Te Puni KÅkiri and the Ministry of Health as part of the Rheumatic Fever Research Partnership programme. As part of this effort, we have updated and built-on previous work in this area by estimating the burden of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) across multiple demographic and geographic strata between 2010-2013.