He gave a talk on ''Rheumatic fever, rheumatic heart disease and research in Samoa and the wider Pacific'' at a two-day health conference which ended at the Otago Museum yesterday.
It was the sixth Otago International Health Research Network Conference, and the network is supported by the University of Otago Centre for International Health.
Dr Viali lives and works in Samoa, where he was born, and he is an honorary fellow at the Otago centre.
About 200 New Zealanders die prematurely each year from rheumatic heart disease. The illness is also found in Australia, but otherwise is seldom found in developed countries.
A senior medical official at the Auckland Regional Public Health Service said earlier this year it was a ''national disgrace'' that the disease existed in this country.
The Government has allocated $24 million to a rheumatic fever prevention programme in a bid to dramatically reduce the number of cases by 2017.
Prevention efforts include taking swabs of children with sore throats and providing antibiotics to counter Group A streptococcal infections which can lead to rheumatic fever in high-risk individuals and communities.
Some housing-related initiatives in Auckland are also being undertaken.
Dr Viali said in an interview that New Zealanders were right to be concerned about the threat posed by rheumatic heart disease and the Government should be commended for funding the prevention programme..
Rheumatic fever was a complex phenomenon but was also a strong indicator of poverty and poor housing conditions, and Maori and Pacific people were worst affected in New Zealand.
Poverty, inequality and related housing issues ''have to be addressed'' and there was also a need for more scientific research to clarify the way in which the strep microorganisms involved may have changed over the years.
Mouth swabs and antibiotics were clearly needed, but a more broadly integrated approach would also be required to successfully counter rheumatic fever in the long term, he said.
