At a glance
Recorded diagnosis of ARF and/or RHD
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/b7ebe8f9-772b-482f-b74f-1d829473e6e3/aihw-cvd100-icon-red_81-percent.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=015014&hmac=de5f0cc94106721e1602281e4299aaccc12600255072e85def2da804691df13f)
8,448 First Nations people with a diagnosis of ARF and/or RHD were recorded on jurisdictional registers at December 2022(1)
Northern Territory
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/3f0e20b4-863a-4cbe-bd11-db71eca9e70b/aihw-cvd100-icon-red_Northern-Territory_1.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=114947&hmac=e7ffbb1a941e8fbbf77248c2359722626330f09686ba9a3ae3eed65eff4e8850)
40% of First Nations people who had a diagnosis of ARF and/or RHD lived in the NT
497
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/1c41c76a-0b99-4edc-bfdf-3487d9ccbb74/aihw-cvd100-icon-white_ARF_no_number.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=115229&hmac=27104db6a88badab619c0c07739ed97e20095e242af0dbfe4470f95e1736f0ac)
497 First Nations people were diagnosed with acute rheumatic fever in 2022(2)
Annual population rate
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/ab70fd90-eb52-4f33-a7d1-57e935550579/aihw-cvd100-icon-white__arf-graph.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=035150&hmac=f8f9d9daa693d617acd4a255b4716154fd6b5c0011c50b4a243813d07e298d8e)
The annual population rate of ARF diagnoses among First Nations people increased from 2013(3) to 2021(4), then decreased in 2022(5)
Hospital separations with a diagnosis of ARF
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/53a88552-4dbe-43e6-bb2d-60e4864a7c24/aihw-cvd100-icon-red_Hospitals_smaller.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=121434&hmac=9edb49c27df70a6e28a212f75279b059ea3c323f67b1054d6b70a72208d298dc)
In 2021–22 financial year, there was a total of 554 hospital separations with a diagnosis of ARF in NSW, Qld, WA, SA and NT(6)
5,424
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/fff8c823-111f-45b9-a1a4-9c0716b5a734/aihw-cvd100-icon-red_RHD_no-number.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=115229&hmac=7766f9a2ee6aaf843093b212c0334faa2f5fde808aff3eebbe04b3fd8ebd1b4b)
At December 2022, 5,424 First Nations people were living with RHD(7)
RHD incidence rate
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/17faddae-fc00-4459-8a49-8642d8cc4e82/aihw-cvd100-icon-red_RHD-Graph_1.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=031405&hmac=2822bb6a0cb896567a081a751d13229b258efe956dd027b1dcefae15bc46f84b)
The incidence rate of RHD among First Nations people who were newly diagnosed with RHD increased from 2015 to 2018, then decreased over last 5 years(8)
7 in 10
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/bbe5885e-6e1c-4bf2-855e-38916088e1d4/aihw-cvd100-icon-white_7-out-of-10-women-70-percent.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=014916&hmac=1f9a309a29df1f7ca219bf63742799c0b8521dabfb09d4765a566bd5ad9ed54f)
Nearly 7 in 10 First Nations people who were newly diagnosed with RHD in 2022 were females
Prevalence rate
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/89079e31-f612-4f78-b22e-e1a6e635b5a7/aihw-cvd100-icon-white_Bar-Chart-20.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=032345&hmac=886c152cea784b6e2aabd05dd53b51413af8a64f2666b07b67991f0ef81aa9cd)
The prevalence rate of First Nations people living with RHD has increased since 2015(9)
New diagnoses of RHD
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/edf801c3-b5bf-4e59-916f-f6d1b1508ebe/aihw-cvd100-icon-white_less-than-35-years.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=014917&hmac=c38311756b090dda3cf74edc8fd65450532005f21839125ca00ae16f21d55bfd)
In 2022, 9 new diagnoses of RHD were recorded in people under 35 years old in NSW
Surgery for RHD
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/0eaafe42-30f1-4d5d-bc75-a355dd26705e/aihw-cvd100-icon-white_Heart-shape_fill_larger.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=122316&hmac=695cefc07394a7141c75bac025116b8780b45c28d5aebabcabe6ceb6d755fc0e)
73 First Nations people had surgery for RHD in 2022
RHD register
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/c1c2a640-b00f-4ed6-b7dd-8ae84c9a57e5/aihw-cvd100-icon-red_Victoria.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=015014&hmac=9a7ea59ba8ac765dcbca3f121adfe00404a2a763e3591427eac40d561c63bc42)
At December 2022, 142 people living with RHD were recorded on the register in New South Wales(10)
1 in 4
![](/kenticoimage.axd/media/e8e49e31-41f0-4c40-9589-d6f7040cfc73/aihw-cvd100-icon-red_1-in-4-quarter-people.png?width=300&quality=90&rmode=crop&d=015014&hmac=2fa3ccaa37916c691e1a51954d6b0f103740001e86b40c38a66203217cf5e7f2)
Nearly 1 in 4 First Nations people in Qld, WA, SA, and NT prescribed BPG received at least 80% of their prescribed doses in 2022
- [1] Over 81% of total diagnoses of ARF/RHD in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory
- [2] 95% of total diagnoses in NSW, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory
- [3] 47 per 100,000 population
- [4] 77 per 100,000 population
- [5] 64 per 100,000 population
- [6] 85% First Nations people vs 15% non-Indigenous people
- [7] 78% of total of those in Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory
- [8] 55 persons per 100,000 population in 2015, 88 persons per 100,000 population in 2018, 55 persons per 100,000 population in 2022
- [9] 847 persons per 100,000 population in 2015 to 1,104 persons per 100,000 population in 2022
- [10] RHD is notifiable only in those aged under 35 at the time of diagnosis in NSW