Areas of focus and priorities for research and development at the patient, health systems and policy levels
| Levels | Areas of focus | Research and development priorities |
| Patient | Heart failure | Novel point of care diagnostics |
| Handheld ultrasound devices | ||
| Telemedicine | ||
| Digital registries with mobile app capabilities | ||
| Artificial intelligence | ||
| Arrhythmias | Point of care anticoagulation management | |
| Genomics and pharmacogenetics of drug response | ||
| New antiarrhythmic medications | ||
| Novel anticoagulants | ||
| Pregnancy | Tools for risk stratification | |
| Qualitative research | ||
| Community-based screening | ||
| Defining outcomes | ||
| Surgery and catheterisation | Development of lower cost surgical valves, valve rings and open-heart surgery disposables | |
| Transcatheter aortic and mitral valves focused on RHD | ||
| Sutureless heart valve design | ||
| New methods of decellularisation including polymer-based heart valve leaflet | ||
| Mechanical prosthesis that do not need anticoagulation | ||
| Health system | Facility capacity development | Low-cost operating rooms, catheterisation labs, hybrid suites |
| Equipment and consumables: availability, development and maintenance | ||
| North-South partnerships | ||
| Training | Webinars, scholarships and training grants | |
| Focus on nurses, technicians and physician extenders | ||
| Low fidelity simulators and virtual reality tools | ||
| Funding and costing | Models for health system and patient costs of living with advanced RHD | |
| Treatment costs for advanced RHD | ||
| Cost-effectiveness of alternative financing models | ||
| Supply side/procurement | ||
| Disease burden | Identify and improve tools (cohorts, GBD modelling) that quantify the burden of advanced RHD | |
| Policy | Stakeholders | Identify current and potential roles of stakeholders |
| Explore private/public collaboration including industry | ||
| Programme implementation | Establishment of regional centres of excellence and training supported by governmental and non-governmental organisations | |
| Integration into existing chronic care programmes | ||
| North/South and South/South collaboration | ||
| Pathways connecting prevention, primary care and tertiary care | ||
| Policy | Integration of RHD care into national policy | |
| NCD-specific response | ||
| Partnerships with global organisations advocating for RHD policy |
GBD, Global Burden of Disease; NCD, non-communicable disease.