Heart Foundation to host 2026 World Congress on Rheumatic Heart Disease in Perth

Media release: Tuesday 25 November 2025

2026 World Congress on Rheumatic Heart Disease heads to Australia

The World Heart Federation has selected the National Heart Foundation of Australia to host the World Congress on Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) in Perth next year.

The Congress - only the second of its kind - will bring together global researchers, practitioners, patients, advocates, and leaders to explore practical and effective solutions that will help end rheumatic heart disease once and for all.

About Rheumatic Heart Disease

Virtually eradicated in large parts of the world, RHD continues to have a devastating impact on vulnerable communities in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, South and South-East Asia and the Western Pacific, affecting 40 million people and claiming more than 300,000 lives.

RHD is damage to heart valves caused by an acute rheumatic fever (ARF). ARF occurs through untreated streptococcal A (Strep A) infections. In Australia, RHD and ARF have been largely eradicated from urban population but disproportionately affect Indigenous children and young people as well as populations across the Pacific.

In Australia, more than 11,000 people are on medical registries as living with ARF and RHD. More than 90 percent of ARF diagnoses continue to be among Indigenous Australians, most aged between 5 and 14 years.

About the 2026 World Congress on RHD

Today’s announcement by the World Heart Federation was celebrated by Western Australian Minister for Medical Research, Stephen Dawson, Heart Foundation CEO David Lloyd, and eminent Perth-based RHD researcher Professor Jonathan Carapetis AM, in an event at The Kids Institute this morning.

World Heart Federation President, Prof. Jagat Narula, said:

“Rheumatic heart disease is a preventable disease that claims the lives and futures of too many young people, especially in disadvantaged communities in the Global South including those in Australia and across the Pacific.

“Building on the mega success of the First World Congress in RHD - Abu Dhabi 2023, we are honoured to be joining forces with the Heart Foundation of Australia, our co-hosts for the Second World Congress on RHD in Perth.

“The 40 million people living with the disease deserve the global attention, which would help us accelerate proven measures to diagnose, treat and prevent RHD. We at the World Heart Federation continue to champion the global efforts to finally consign this disease to history.”

Heart Foundation CEO and World Heart Federation Vice-President-elect, David Lloyd, said:

“Rheumatic fever and heart disease are the result of disadvantage. We know how to eradicate it: we just need support to make it happen.

“Today’s announcement by the World Heart Federation, along with the support of government and philanthropy to bring this Congress to Australia, gives me immense hope that we will continue to make strides towards eradicating RHD.”

The event is being sponsored by the National Heart Foundation of Australia, the Western Australian Government, the Leducq Foundation, the American Heart Association, the National Heart Foundation of New Zealand, Business Events Perth, and Business Events Australia.