Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme

Empowering Pacific communities

Auckland Pacific Engagement Service (PES) providers are helping empower communities to create and implement ideas aimed at reducing rheumatic fever numbers.

Three PES providers will be working in different Auckland communities to deliver six community-designed projects by June 30 this year.

Alliance Health Plus, which delivers PES in Auckland for the RFPP, went through a tender process at the end of 2015 to offer funding of up to $15,000 for each of the six projects.

The proposals funded include:

• Churches in south, central and west Auckland – as well as two early childhood education centres – using rheumatic fever prevention messages to develop skits, drama, short films, songs, digital presentations or posters.
• Collaborating with a South Auckland primary school and college students in a Tamaki cluster to raise awareness through rhyme/rap competitions on rheumatic fever prevention messages. Top 10 rhyme/raps will be featured at a finalists’ event, with teachers, parents, families and friends invited to attend.
• Using 12 Tongan churches during the period leading up to White Sunday (the first week of May) where Sunday school children perform a play acting out key rheumatic fever messages.
• Enabling youths from three schools and a community group to develop a smartphone application to remind young people to take antibiotics prescribed to treat their strep sore throat on time over the 10-day course. There will be a competition for the most user-friendly application.
• Utilising the skills of gifted kids from the Sutton Park Primary School GATE programme to develop a rheumatic fever website.

Contact: Danilo_Almeida@moh.govt.nz.

2016 Rheumatic Fever Awareness Campaign

Another national Rheumatic Fever Awareness Campaign, including TV advertising, will be launched in time for winter.

The Ministry of Health and Health Promotion Agency have started working on this year's campaign, aimed to run from early May to the end of August.

Like last year's campaign, the 2016 activity will be targeted at parents and caregivers of Māori and Pacific children and young people most at risk of getting rheumatic fever. It will include a variety of marketing and communications channels, including TV, radio and social media.

The campaign will build on the 2015 winter campaign, incorporating lessons learned and recommendations from the Evaluation of the 2015 Rheumatic Fever Awareness Campaign. This year’s national awareness campaign is the third funded by the RFPP, to help raise awareness about rheumatic fever, what causes it and how to prevent it.

Contact: Marama_Ellis@moh.govt.nz.

Porirua festival highlights rheumatic fever

Rheumatic fever prevention messages were delivered from seven different venues at a Porirua Waitangi Day festival that attracted more than 25,000 people.

The RFPP sponsored the February 6 Porirua Festival of the Elements to increase awareness of rheumatic fever. 

Messages were delivered at the Talent Quest, Skate Jam and main stage events. In addition, staff from three local primary health organisations were stationed around the venue to talk about rheumatic fever and other health promotion messages. The Wellington Pacific Engagement Service also focused on rheumatic fever throughout the day.

A rheumatic fever photograph selfie booth was set up on the day, with photos uploaded to #LetsStopRF.

Contact: Jackie_Mayne@moh.govt.nz.

Save the date: Information-sharing workshop

Save this date!  On April 12 we will host staff from the 11 high-incidence District Health Boards (DHBs) in an information-sharing workshop about rheumatic fever prevention.

We’ll discuss what’s happening in DHB communities, what's working well, challenges and how we can support each other over the final 12 months of the programme.

An invitation and more information will be sent to DHBs soon.

Contact: niki_penberthy@moh.govt.nz or tui_acedilla@moh.govt.nz.

Evaluations published online

Components of the RFPP have been evaluated in two reports published recently online. They are the:

• Interim Evaluation of the Sore Throat Management Component of the New Zealand Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme
• Evaluation of the 2015 Rheumatic Fever Awareness Campaign

The main purpose of the Interim Evaluation of the Sore Throat Management Component of the New Zealand Rheumatic Fever Prevention Programme was to help guide District Health Board investment decisions by giving early indications on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the RFPP sore throat management services.

The main purpose of the Evaluation of the 2015 Rheumatic Fever Awareness Campaign was to provide independent advice to inform improvements to the 2016 Rheumatic Fever Awareness Campaign.

Advice on administering intramuscular penicillin

Advice on administering intramuscular penicillin  will soon be available to RFPP sore throat management services.

The advice includes a guidance document for health professionals administering intramuscular penicillin, with a supporting education video and family information sheet. It has been developed primarily for nurses working in the RFPP sore throat management services, although the material may be useful to other registered health professionals who can give intramuscular injections.

The key benefit of giving a single injection of intramuscular penicillin is that families do not need to remember to take 10 days of an oral dose of antibiotics to treat Group A Streptococcus (GAS) sore throat infections. A single injection of intramuscular penicillin will treat the GAS infection, eliminating antibiotic adherence issues.

We will let you know when the material is completed and how you can access it.

Contact: Niki_Stefanogiannis@moh.govt.nz

Sore throat clinic numbers

Latest figures show more than 47,400 eligible people have been checked and/or treated by one of the RFPP-funded free sore throat clinic services.

Sore throat clinics aim to make it easier for at-risk children and young people to get their sore throats checked and treated, if necessary. They provide family-friendly hours and same-day access to free sore throat services in areas where there is a high incidence of rheumatic fever.

People eligible for free services from a sore throat clinic are:

• Māori and Pacific children and young people aged 4-19
• 4-19 year olds living in areas with the highest measure of neighbourhood deprivation (NZ Deprivation Index Quintile 5)
• 3-35 year old household contacts (with a sore throat) of someone who has been treated for a GAS throat infection in a sore throat clinic.

Contact: David_Szabo@moh.govt.nz

DHB rheumatic fever prevention plans

Most high-incidence DHBs have had their refreshed rheumatic fever prevention plans endorsed.

These plans form the basis of a specific contract for rheumatic fever prevention between the Ministry of Health and each high-incidence DHB.

There are clear contracted deliverables that will be monitored quarterly through the DHB annual planning mechanisms by Ministry officials.

The DHB plans have a comprehensive mix of clear actions that will support them to reach their 2017 Better Public Services (BPS) rheumatic fever target.

The Ministry expects DHBs will make their prevention plans publicly available on their website.

Contact: David_Szabo@moh.govt.nz

Healthy Homes Initiatives

The RFPP’s eight Healthy Homes Initiatives (HHIs) working in all high-incidence DHB regions are making good progress delivering a range of different interventions to families.

HHIs identify and support families with children at risk of rheumatic fever by coordinating a comprehensive range of interventions for these families to reduce their level of crowding and subsequent risk of rheumatic fever. The initiatives are designed to reduce structural crowding (where a house is too small) and functional crowding (where a house is so cold, family members crowd into a limited number of rooms to keep warm).

Latest figures show 3240 eligible families have been referred to the HHIs, with more than 2260 interventions supplied so far. These interventions include: insulation, curtains, beds and bedding, minor repairs, floor coverings, ventilation, heating sources, Full and Correct Entitlement Assessments (through Work and Income), support with power bills, private/community relocation and social housing relocations.

Contact: Natalie_Burton@moh.govt.nz or Janet_Chen@moh.govt.nz.