# [Correspondence] The Perth Declaration to eliminate rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease

Source: [thelancet.com](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)02142-2/fulltext?rss=yes) · 2026-11-14 · Medicine
Page: https://themorning.science/story/correspondence-the-perth-declaration-to-eliminate-rheumatic-fever-and-rheumatic-b0578abe68d08d7a
Kind: policy · Impact: medium

## In brief

- The Lancet published a correspondence piece on the Perth Declaration, which aims to eliminate rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.
- Approximately 55 million people live with rheumatic heart disease, and more than 370,000 die from it each year.
- The authors describe rheumatic heart disease as the most common acquired heart disease in people, and its persistence as a sign of social inequity.

## Why it matters

The persistence of rheumatic heart disease shows how social inequity can determine who benefits from medical progress, which matters for anyone studying or designing health interventions.

## Coverage

- [[Correspondence] The Perth Declaration to eliminate rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)02142-2/fulltext?rss=yes) — thelancet.com, 2026-11-14

Tags: rheumatic heart disease, rheumatic fever, global health, health equity, public health

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Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science