The National Rheumatic Heart Disease data collection, held by the AIHW, contains data on diagnoses of acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in Australia. It is a collation of data from ARF/RHD clinical registers held by certain states and territories in which ARF and/or RHD are notifiable diseases. In 2018, ARF was notifiable to state health departments in five Australian jurisdictions (Qld, WA, SA, NT and NSW), while RHD was notifiable in three (NSW, WA and SA). In NSW, RHD cases are only notifiable in people aged less than 35 years. Diagnoses of notifiable diseases are required by law to be reported to state and territory health authorities, to enable ongoing monitoring and support public health responses. |