The National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) and The Snow Foundation have partnered in a major step forward for Indigenous health outcomes as they look to prevent acute rheumatic fever (ARF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) says ARF and RHD are preventable diseases disproportionately affecting Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people living in regional and remote areas.

"Low socioeconomic status is associated both with greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease and with lower chance of receiving appropriate treatment," the AIHW said.

Triggered by a bacterial streptococcal infection, and with a lifelong impact, 92 per cent of ARF diagnoses between 2017-2021 were among Indigenous Australians, with the highest rate in those aged 5-14.

A person diagnosed with either ARF or RHD requires lifelong care, including years of preventive antibiotics and, occasionally, invasive cardiac surgery.

Last year, National Indigenous Times reported on a letter written by 14-year-old Nambi Henderson, who lamented that for the Warumungu, Mudburra and Jingili people, "our future doesn't look so bright".

"I don't know any of my relatives who have died of old age. They have all died from alcoholism or chronic diseases like renal disease, diabetes and RHD," she said in the letter, which was read out in Parliament by Solomon MP Luke Gosling.

Speaking of her cousin-brother Troy, who at the time was 17, fit, tall and strong with dreams of the future, but who suffers from RHD, she said: "There's no cure. But it is totally preventable".

"I wish my people didn't have to suffer through these diseases. It's hard to watch. And it's even harder to say goodbye."

The Snow Foundation will deliver a grant of $1 million ($500,000 per year) to expand NACCHO's ARF and RHD Prevention Program into more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) and their communities.

The two-year investment will aim to bolster the broader ACCHO sector by enabling it to scale up efforts to prevent and manage ARF and RHD.

"As Australia's peak community-controlled body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' health and wellbeing, NACCHO acknowledges The Snow Foundation as one of the first in Australia to support community-controlled program design and delivery," NACCHO's acting chief executive Dr Dawn Casey said.

"We all have a part to play in closing the gap."

As of December 2021, 78 per cent of RHD diagnoses were for Indigenous Australians, with the highest prevalence rate in the NT. 2022 saw 272 new RHD diagnoses among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

55 per cent of diagnoses were amongst Indigenous Australians under the age of 25 with diagnoses for females almost twice as common as males (97 per 100,000 and 53 per 100,00 respectively).

The Snow Foundation chief executive, Georgina Byron, said the organisation had seen first-hand the work NACCHO did to help communities.

"NACCHO are the experts in Aboriginal health and wellbeing, driving community-led initiatives where the power and decision-making are in Aboriginal communities' hands," Ms Byrne said.

"We're delighted to partner with NACCHO and see the importance of backing Aboriginal leadership and ensuring Aboriginal health is controlled by Aboriginal people and communities.

"This partnership re-affirms the principles of self-empowerment and self-determination that will achieve more impact through community-led strategies."