July 04, 2024
Rheumatic fever Red Nose target
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Cure Kids hopes its Red Nose Day tomorrow will raise funds for research into diseases which disproportionately affect Māori and Pacifika tamariki.
Chief executive Frances Soutter says the charity supports research into a range of child health conditions that could save, extend and improve millions of lives.
Some of this year’s putea will go into rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease.
While part of the cure is medical, equity issues like affordability and access to primary care also affect things like respiratory infections.
“Inappropriate housing is one of those factors but we still don’t know why even Maori and Pacific kids who may be living in more appropriate housing still have a higher incidence of rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease so there’s more things at play that are probably to do with genetics as well,” Ms Soutter says.
Red Nose fundraising activity will continue through the month.