Health · Public Health & Disease · 8 hrs ago
Experts urge faster stroke treatment and certified care centres in India
Stroke specialists in Chennai urged faster access to treatment and better-prepared hospitals across India.
At a webinar for World Stroke Day, they called for a system to identify hospitals as stroke-ready and guide patients to comprehensive stroke centres.
Treatment within 4.5 hours is critical because quick care can help limit damage to the brain.
Stroke symptoms can include facial drooping, weakness in the arms, slurred speech, blurred vision and loss of balance.
Remote areas can use telemedicine to identify patients and arrange transfers to centres with specialist teams and advanced treatment.
The specialists said certification or government rules could help patients reach appropriate care without delay.
Stroke medicine experts in India called for faster access to treatment and certified stroke-ready hospitals.
Sivarajan Thandeswaran said legislation should require patients to be taken to and treated at comprehensive stroke centres.
The experts said treatment within 4.5 hours is critical to saving brain tissue.
Harish R. Kamath described stroke symptoms including facial asymmetry, arm weakness and slurred speech.
The doctors said telemedicine is being used to identify stroke patients in remote areas and transfer them to specialist centres.
- Who
- Stroke medicine expert Sivarajan Thandeswaran and neurologist Harish R. Kamath.
- What
- They urged faster stroke treatment and certified care centres in India.
- When
- At a webinar held for World Stroke Day, observed annually on October 29.
- Where
- The webinar was presented by Kauvery Hospital in association with The Hindu. Thandeswaran spoke from Kauvery Hospital in Alwarpet, Chennai.
- Why
- Timely care is crucial to salvage the brain, and certification could help prevent delays in finding treatment.
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- Treatment window
- 4.5 hours
- Annual new cases
- 1.8 million stroke cases, according to Kamath
- Annual deaths
- 7.25 million deaths due to stroke, according to Kamath
- Webinar
- The Golden Hour: Every Minute Matters, Every Life Counts
- Location
- Kauvery Hospital in Alwarpet, Chennai
What people are saying
Hospitals in India have to apply for and obtain NABH or JCI certification; instead, a proper government legislation making it mandatory for patients to be taken to and treated at comprehensive stroke centres, as done in the West, will improve stroke care
People should take ownership of their health through routine check-ups for better treatment outcomes