New music video says 'Boom Boom' to rheumatic heart disease
A catchy new song written by kids, for kids, is bringing a life-saving message to Aboriginal communities at risk of rheumatic heart disease.
‘Boom Boom’ is more than just a catchy tune. It was written by kids from the remote Aboriginal community of Barunga with an important message to share – healthy hearts keep our people strong.
Barunga is home to an ‘END RHD Community’, a project which brings together the community, local school, service-providers, and researchers to develop culturally appropriate approaches to prevent Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) and ensure those already living with the disease receive the support they need.
Wanting to share their learnings about RHD to help their peers in other communities with high rates of the disease, the Barunga kids created Boom Boom to spread the word. With some help from ABC presenter Justine Clarke and Darwin record label Skinnyfish Music their vision has come to life in the form of a music video.
Aboriginal Community Worker Anne Marie Lee, who is leading the ‘END RHD Communities’ project in Barunga, has high hopes that ‘Boom Boom’ will help other communities consider key messages to prevent RHD.
“By doing this video in an Indigenous community it opens the eyes of a lot of families members that have rheumatic heart disease – and families with kids that don't – about how it’s important that they get treatment for skin sores and sore throats,” she says.
Seeing the video opened my heart and brought a tear to my eye. It’s going to be very useful for a lot of Indigenous communities.
The Bupa Health Foundation has pledged nearly half a million dollars in funding to support END RHD communities, a community-led, research-backed approach to ending RHD driven by the End Rheumatic Heart Disease Centre of Research Excellence (END RHD CRE) based at Telethon Kids, and the Menzies School of Health Research.
RHD is an entirely preventable disease that takes too many young lives, and we hope that by supporting community-led initiatives like END RHD Communities we can make significant steps towards closing the health gap.
Find out more about the Bupa Health Foundation.
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