Lay summary
ESR has supported Pacific nations for over two decades, providing scientific expertise, information and tools for healthy and resilient communities. Pacific Islanders in New Zealand face reduced life expectancy and increased hospitalisation rates for preventable conditions due to limited access to timely and effective healthcare. Rheumatic fever-related deaths caused by an abnormal reaction to a bacterial infection is perpetuated by poverty, household overcrowding, and poor access to timely medical care. Despite the advancements in understanding rheumatic fever, no specific diagnostic test is forthcoming. Recent research underscores the need for integrating reliable disease markers into point-of-care diagnostic tests to tackle the absence of lab facilities in low-income areas. This funding will support initial research to fill knowledge-gaps by end-user engagements, evaluate their functionality and preferences, and navigate complexities related to specific disease markers, among other capability building activities to leverage ESR’s existing biosensing platforms to enable accurate diagnosis of rheumatic disease.