Cardiovascular Journal of Africa: Vol 34 No 2 (MAY/JUNE 2023)

CARDIOVASCULAR JOURNAL OF AFRICA • Volume 34, No 2, May/June 2023 92 AFRICA engage in health preventative projects, which impacts positively on attitudes for new strategies.22 Our weakness was the absence of more frequent refresher courses with health workers, which was well demonstrated in HIV-based studies as the key in sustaining new programmes.23 Conclusion From this study, we observed sub-optimal knowledge of ARF diagnosis and the use of BPG among health workers in rural eastern Uganda. Political support from the district enabled access to and acceptability of the training programme at different levels, and improved health-worker knowledge on RHD and BPG use. This report will provide a scalable approach for training healthcare workers and effectively improve ARF detection in regional centres in Uganda. We acknowledge the health workers and unit department heads, the local government and district health officer of the Tororo district, and the local council 5 chairperson for facilitating the radio programme. We also acknowledge the management and staff of Rock Mambo radio station, and the Uganda Heart Institute’s management and staff. References 1. Okello E, Longenecker C, Beaton A, Kamya MR, Lwabi P. Rheumatic heart disease in Uganda: predictors of morbidity and mortality one year after presentation. BMC Cardiovasc Dis 2017; 17(20). 2. Okello E, Wanzhu Z, Musoke C, Aliku T. Cardiovascular complications in newly diagnosed rheumatic heart disease patients at Mulago Hospital, Uganda. Cardiovasc J Afr 2013; 24(3): 80–85. 3. Carapetis JR, Beaton A, Cunningham MW, et al. Acute rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease. Nat Rev Dis Primers 2016; 14(2): 15084. 4. Eroğlu AG. Update on diagnosis of acute rheumatic fever: 2015 Jones criteria. Turkish Arch Pediat 2016; 51: 1–7. 5. 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