A Report On Rheumatic Fever Awareness Campaign Of 2016

CAMPAIGN BACKGROUND Rheumatic Fever Awareness Campaign of 2016 is a programme by New Zealand that continues to promote awareness against sore throat caused by Group A Streptococcus which complicates to rheumatic fever. It is known that Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) is serious yet a preventable illness. The campaign is dedicated to reduce the incidence among children and aims to create national consciousness on the importance of early prevention, treatment and the facts about rheumatic fever that may possibly result to heart damage. In New Zealand, ARF has been significantly increasing. It is alarming as ARF is considered an evident indicator of child poverty and ill health (Sharpe, 2012). The cases of ARF doubled from 1.9 per 100 000 to 3.8 per 100 000 from 2005 to 2010 (Lowe, L., Miller, J., Sharpe, N., 2011). It is vital that the problem with ARF be addressed as its’ rates have constantly failed to decrease and thus remain as one of the highest reported third world diseases in a highly developed country such as New Zealand (Masters, 2009). According to Dr. Coleman, Minister of Health, in his media statement on ARF last May 1, 2016, he claimed that the campaign aims to decrease the cases of ARF by two thirds by June 2017. Different intervention techniques were used to pursue the objectives of the campaign such as school throat swabbing, health education, community exposure to lowly deprived areas, media advertisements and promotions. Young children susceptible to ARF and