World Stroke Day and Stroke Week Observed in CMC Ludhiana

Ludhiana, October 28, 2013: Stroke or brain attack is the second leading cause of death in the world. There are an estimated 16 million people who have a stroke each year with nearly 6 million of them losing their lives to the disease. One in six people will have stroke in their lifetime. In fact, stroke is responsible for more deaths annually than those attributed to AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria put together. Stroke is also the leading cause of long-term disability irrespective of age, sex, ethnicity or country. In India alone 4000 to 5000 strokes occur every day. About 24% of stroke patients in Ludhiana are below the age of 45 years.

Dr Jeyaraj D Pandian who is the Chair of World Stroke Campaign of World Stroke Organisation mentioned that all the 100 member countries are actively involved in raising stroke awareness during this week. In India alone in more than 50 cities and towns awareness programs are being planned. Dr Yashpal Singh, Professor of Neurology said that more than one-third of the stroke patients are disabled after the stroke.

The Stroke Unit of Department of Neurology had a stroke awareness programme in Kalvari Church, Church of North India on 27th October. More than 300 congregational members were informed about the stroke warning signs and symptoms, risk factors and how to prevent stroke. Dr Santosh Mathangi, rehabilitation physician spoke about the importance of rehabilitation after the stroke. Dheeraj Vice-Principal of College of Physiotherapy and Deepika Sharma Physiotherapist, Ashish, Stroke Nurse and Younis Rehabilitation Nurse were the other members of the stroke team who participated in the educational program. Rev Samson of the Kalvari church lauded the efforts of the stroke team of CMC in creating awareness about stroke to church members.

The stroke team visited the various wards, OPDs and waiting areas of CMC Hospital and gave stroke talks and distributed educational pamphlets on 28th October.

Today is the World Stroke Day, the stroke team of CMC Ludhiana organised a Stroke Support Group meeting in the hospital auditorium. About 50 patients and relatives came for the meeting.  Shefali Chopra from Tata Motors Ludhiana led the session along with Deepika Sharma. Chopra is the Indian representative for the formulation of Stroke Global Bill of Rights. She participated in the Core working group meeting in Vienna, Austria last month. “It is a really a great initiative by WSO and it will be beneficial for people living in developing countries.

There is lack of awareness of stroke in our country. My mother suffered stroke and we got it recognized after 48hours and by that time her vision got hampered. The best part is that WSO is taking inputs from stroke survivors and carers across the world and hence the final bill would cater to the actual needs of the patients particularly in developing countries.” Dr Pandian added that the Bill will cover the rights of stroke patients in acute care, prevention, rehabilitation and long term care including social support. This Global Bill of Rights will be used across the world to improve the awareness of stroke and also to influence the policy makers. The stroke support group of Ludhiana will regularly meet in the future under the leadership of Shefali Chopra.

On 30th October the team will go to Malerkotla and will conduct free medical camp and awareness talks. www.cityairnews.com

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