SI Lautoka organized a heart screening with Shree Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children's Hospital at Vasist Muni Memorial School to detect cardiac issues early.
In Fiji, rheumatic heart disease (RHD) remains a leading cause of preventable death among children. Many cases go undetected until advanced stages because routine cardiac screening is not available in primary schools. Vasist Muni Memorial School had no on-site heart screening program, leaving students with undiagnosed murmurs or RHD at risk of serious complications, SI Lautoka hosted this outreach program in Tavua because in rural areas people are finding so many difficulties to go to Suva .
They screened 150 students in Years 5–8 for cardiac abnormalities using portable echocardiography and blood pressure measurement, recording ECG findings, blood pressure readings, and referral notes for each child with the aim of identifying at least 5% with previously unknown abnormalities. Shree Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital, provided volunteer cardiologists and nurses, and with written consent from the school principal and parents. Using the school hall as a temporary screening station, each screening took 10–15 minutes per child.
The project was successful:
They screened 120 children (68 girls, 52 boys), ) who had previously undiagnosed abnormal findings – 5 with cardiac murmurs requiring monitoring, 2 with borderline RHD changes on ECG, and 1 with a suspected mitral valve abnormality. All 8 were successfully referred and attended follow-up appointments, and a parent information session after the screening reached over 90 parents, improving knowledge of sore throat treatment and prophylaxis for RHD