About the data in this report
The data used in this report are from the National Rheumatic Heart Disease data collection, which is hosted and managed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) by using data from the Acute Rheumatic Fever (ARF) and Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) registers in the 5 jurisdictions and removing any duplications.
Throughout this report, some data from New South Wales will be incorporated with numbers from other jurisdictions and some will remain separate, depending on comparability between the jurisdictions. New South Wales' data were provided directly to the AIHW from the NSW RHD register. ARF (all ages) and RHD (in persons under the age of 35 at diagnosis) became notifiable in NSW in October 2015. The register was established in May 2016. For secondary prophylaxis, the register only contains patients who consent to their information being recorded on the register. People 35 years and older at RHD diagnosis and people previously diagnosed outside New South Wales may be included on the register at the discretion of their health practitioner. Although people who were under 35 at the time of RHD diagnosis remain on the register even after turning 35, they are not included in this report as they are unlikely to be representative of people aged 35 and over with RHD in New South Wales.