Cardiovascular experts from South Africa and Canada have today announced plans to perform the largest ever global studies of patients with rheumatic heart disease (RHD), a disease which currently kills approximately 233,000 people per year, despite being almost entirely preventable.
The INVICTUS programme builds upon the REMEDY project, which released the findings of a pilot study in 2014. The pilot study researched 3,343 RHD patients from 14 countries in Africa, India and the Yemen and concluded that RHD, the most common acquired heart disease in children in many countries of the world, was being neglected and poorly treated.
Professor Salim Yusuf, President of the World Heart Federation and Chairman of the Steering Committee of INVICTUS commented:
“The launch of the RHD patient registry and trial programme on such a global scale forms a really key part of the international efforts underway to reduce RHD mortality rates and help meet the WHO 25by25 target. The registry of 20,000 patients from across all continents is ambitious but must be fulfilled if real progress is to be made and effective measures developed for those countries most affected to urgently put in place.”
