The Remedy. Stroke in India

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5 Stroke in India with such stroke-prone individuals to ensure regular intake of medicines and control of risk factors including life style modification. Primary health care personnel must be trained in recognising stroke, delivering immediate treatment and transport to a stroke centre when and where necessary. Here telemedicine for stroke care or telestroke would bridge the gap between state of the art care in tertiary level hospitals, mainly located in urban cities with existing primary health care centres with the bare minimum infrastructure and expertise in the remote rural India. Government programs and policies are essential to implement the above measures. Concept of stroke unit care A stroke unit is a multidisciplinary team comprising of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupatioanal therapists, speech therapists, dietician and social workers. Independent of age, sex, severity of stroke, the outcome of stroke patients treated in a stroke unit would result in lower mortality, lesser complications and lesser disability. At present India has very few stroke units. We need plenty of these stroke units. Stroke centers with organized emergency department and stroke unit care save lives and improve outcomes at the same time as preventing subsequent strokes. Stroke Support Groups and training programs The need for Stroke Support group is more and more felt now. The Stroke Support Group of Stroke Foundation of Bengal is the second support group in India, the first one being in Mumbai. A stroke support group is a group of likeminded individuals who provide vital social support and activities for those affected by stroke. It is intended to take care of the stroke affected and caregivers too. Training of stroke caregivers is vital so that disability of stroke patients is limited and further strokes are prevented. Caregiver welfare is equally important. SFB is trying to organize Care Giver Training Program in the near future. Contd. From Page 3 a study in North India it was found that only about 14% patients with ischemic stroke presented within 3 hours of onset of symptoms and only 1% could actually receive thrombolysis after fulfilling all the criteria because of high cost of drug. So, it must be emphasized that Thrombolysis is not the main issue in stroke management in our country. This issue has been disussed at length by Prof. G.A. Donnan. Immediately Post President of WSO in one of his oration in the ISACON 2011 in March at Indore. We should emphasize on the stroke care centre where a stroke team will be available for acute stroke management round the clock, following a standard stroke management protocol e.g. National Guidelines for Management of Stroke in India 2010 (created by a Working Group of Indian Academy of Neurology and Indian Stroke Association). The Remedy Health education, awareness programs Nothing can replace public health education and physician awareness programs about stroke prevention by controlling risk factors, effective treatment if stroke occurs and rehabilitation of those disabled. The attention of the health planners must be drawn towards the epidemic. Here lies the the concept of One in Six- Act Now : a two year campaign started by the World Stroke Organization in 2010.SFB hopes that the government, local bodies, teaching institutions and NGO s should come for ward without delay (Act Now). Government initiatives and tele-stroke facilities Mass screening surveys to identify hypertensives and stroke - prone subjects, should be undertaken. Simple, practical, non-costly remedies should be prescribed. Health care workers can be trained to remain in constant contact All are cordially invited to attend the 5th Anniversary Celebration of SFB at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan, DD-27A/1, Salt Lake City, Kolkata on 24th June, 2011 at 6-30 pm. 5

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