Health authorities want
Rheumatic fever
eradicated by 2020 _ a
considerable challenge
given the current lack of a
preventative vaccine for the
disease.
Still, it is achievable if all
Northlanders take on the
responsibility of helping to
achieve this goal.
As we outline today on our
page one, Northland has a rate
of
this disease which is more than
double the national average.
Rheumatic fever is commonly
referred to as a Third World
disease, partly because of the
conditions it thrives in, namely
overcrowded and damp homes.
There is a common thread here
with meningitis, the devastating
disease that took too many
Northland children's lives, before
a vaccine was developed.
It too thrived in overcrowded
conditions, or what most of us tend
to perceive as overcrowded. For
many Pacific Island or Maori
families, six to eight-plus people
living in a house built for four is
nothing.
A programme implemented in
Northland in 2002 has led to the
disease's numbers in previous
problem areas such as Whangaroa
and Kaikohe dropping
dramatically.
Rheumatic fever is treatable,
the earlier the better, but it can
lead to complications such as heart
problems.
Despite the prevention
programme, the disease has
stayed at unacceptable levels in
Northland in the past few years.
The recession has been a factor,
with job losses and poor
employment prospects forcing
people to live in crowded family
accommodation.
Rheumatic fever may not have
grabbed headlines as meningitis
did, and will occasionally still do,
but it does not mean we should
treat it any lighter.
As health leaders say, treat
sore throats seriously _ it may be
more than a cold.
Third World diseases are
unacceptable in modern day
Northland _ let's spread the
preventative word, instead of
illnesses.
