BY ALLISON KOZICHAROW AND BERNICE BORN
WiRED International now offers an Arabic translation of its Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) module, which was developed to train teachers to recognize the disease. WiRED is pleased to present this translation in response to the requests of doctors in Egypt, where RHD remains a concern.
According to the World Heart Federation, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) currently affects an estimated 15.6 million people, causing more than 233,000 deaths each year. RHD often begins with a strep throat, but prompt treatment can completely stop this preventable disease.
The training will be used in Egypt and elsewhere along with the complementary RHD for Students module in Arabic — also available in English, Portuguese, Spanish and French
The Arabic translation of WiRED’s RHD training for teachers is divided into two parts. Part 1 explains the special role teachers can play in combating strep throat, rheumatic fever and RHD. Part 2 presents problems related to RHD. Because teachers work with children almost every day, they are in a good position to identify the children’s symptoms that could lead to RHD.
Visit WiRED’s RHD Training Series page and check out the all the modules, available to view and download at no charge. Also take a look at WiRED’s RHD animation. In only a few minutes, it describes the three steps by which strep throat can lead to RHD and shows how RHD can be entirely prevented — by the simple action of treating strep throat.