Annually, the world celebrate the world stroke day, a day set aside to raise awareness of the incidence of stroke world-wide and the fact that ailment is treatable.
This day that is themed “Face the Facts: Stroke is Treatable has the tagline “Lives can improve with better awareness, access, and action.”
According to research every two seconds, someone in the world is having a stroke. Globally, stroke is the leading cause of disability and the second leading cause of death.
More than 17 million strokes occur globally each year with over 6 million deaths. The global challenge is huge with 26 million stroke survivors, many living with significant disabilities. One in six people will have a stroke in their lifetime.
The President of World Stroke Organisation, Stephen Davis called on governments of nations to take action to increase equity of access to critical stroke treatments, particularly for women and in low income communities.
“Improving stroke care will reduce the costly impact of stroke on healthcare systems around the world.”
According to Davis, more than 17 million strokes occur globally each year with over 6 million deaths.
“The global challenge is huge with 26 million stroke survivors; many living with significant disabilities, one in six people will have a stroke in their lifetime.
He explained that despite evidence of some decline in stroke rates in high income settings, the global burden of stroke continues to expand, particularly driven by increased rates in low and middle income countries. This has been termed the “stroke pandemic”.
“In low and middle income countries, precise data are often lacking, but evidence suggests the majority of patients cannot even access basic evidence-based therapies such as stroke unit care, thrombolysis or low-cost preventative medications.”
“Even in high income settings, where there are more robust data, large differences in quality of care are evident.”
The WSO continually strives to build and strengthen local advocacy capacity through training to help address some of these inequities.
Share this
