Professor Asiata Dr Satupaitea Viali was one of the first doctors in the Pacific and the world to start Echo Screening Programs, Studies and Research in Primary and Secondary Schools in Samoa from 2008, looking for Rheumatic Heart Disease, managing these children with Rheumatic Heart Diseases with Intramuscular Penicillin injections, and following their progress for 17 years, trying to curb the heavy burden of RHD in morbidity and mortality, in Samoa and the Pacific. The programs screened with Echo over 50,000 children in Samoa between the ages of 4 years and 19 years, and Professor Viali has personally screened about 30,000 over the last 15 years.

Professor Viali was also involved in the 20 Cardiologist driven World Heart Federation (WHF) research into the definition and diagnosis of Rheumatic Heart Disease in the field during Echo Screening studies, leading to the publication of the world standards on diagnosis of RHD in 2012, and the updated standards in 2024.