TS Govt has established ICUs exclusively for stroke patients in all govt hospitals across Telangana state

Hyderabad, October 27, 2016: 10th World Stroke Congress (WSC) kicked off here in city on Wednesday night at HICC, Madhapur.

October 29 is World Stroke Day. The congress is held just few days before it and spreads the message that "Stroke is Treatable". And together we can conquer stroke.

Dr C Laxma Reddy, Minister for Health, Govt of Telangana inaugurated the Congress. This is the first time ever World Stroke Congress is organized in India at Hyderabad.

Speaking on the occasion Dr Laxma Reddy said Government is taking every care to take care of stroke patients at Government hospitals. We have established ICUs for stroke patients across Government hospitals in Telangana. We want all the government hospitals in the state to be stroke ready. This is one rare congress bringing all the leading stroke experts, top stroke neurologists from not only India and abroad. I urge these experts to share never methods, technologies and ways to provide stroke care. We welcome any recommendations about the same, said Dr C. Laxma Reddy.

We are committed to improve health care facilities, curative care and preventative care, informed Dr Laxma Reddy. We have excellent mobile ambulance services in the state, he added

Sunil Gavaskar will be the "Stroke Ambassador of India". In his video message played Little Master said in my cricketing life spanning for many years I was looking for stroke to score more runs. But, as I get old, there is one stroke I am afraid of and it may disable me or finish my innings. I am happy to be " the stroke ambassador for India" to create awareness that strokes are curable.

Dr Dheeraj Khurana presented Stroke Guidelines for India. The document is not fully ready. Some of the key recommendations, according to him include are: Emergency brain imaging should be3 performed before initiation of any specific therapy.Certified stroke units/centers and better emergency transport systems are recommended. Door to need time of 60minutes from hospital arrival needs to be followed.

Nearly 2100 delegates from all over the globe have come to Hyderabad to participate in the Congress, which is held once in two years.It is organized with a mission to reduce the global and region burden of the stroke.

The inaugural function was graced by Stephen Davis, President, World Stroke Organization (WSO) and Congress Co-Chair, Dr Werner Hacke, Congress Oversight Committee Chair and Incoming President of WSO and Dr. Jeyaraj Pandian, Congress Co-Chair from India; Dr. Ashok Uppal, President of Indian Stroke Association, Dr. Peter Sandercock. The four day meet will conclude on October 29, 2016.

The Congress is jointly organized by WSO and the Indian Stroke Association (ISA).
Some of the distinguished speakers include Dr Pooja Khatri (USA), Dr Andrew Demchuk (Canada), Prof Peter Sandercock (UK), Prof Valeria Caso (Italy), Prof Michael Brainin (Austria), Prof Hans-Christoph Diener (Germany), Prof Geoffrey Donnan (Australia), Prof Lawrence Wong (Hong Kong), Prof S Martins (Brazil).

WSO is the world’s leading organization in the fight against stroke. Today, WSO has more than 3700 individual members and over 60 society members from 85 different countries.
WSO’s mission is to reduce the global burden of stroke through prevention, treatment and long term care. WSO collaborates closely with the World Health Organization (WHO).

Stroke is a major cause of disability and death worldwide. A large proportion of strokes occur in low and middle income countries like India. In India alone 1.7 million new stroke cases occur every year. Stroke affects young people in India during their productive period of life. Stroke care infrastructure is developed mainly in private hospitals but the vast majority of public hospitals are ill-equipped to treat stroke patients. The treatment expenses are borne by the patients and relatives and hence there is a huge economic burden on the family. The neighboring countries in south Asia also face a similar problem of a huge burden of stroke with a poor infrastructure to tackle the situation stated Dr Jeyaraj Pandian.

The congress will have joint sessions with World Health Organization, World Hypertension league, Asia Pacific Stroke Organization, European Stroke Organization, American Stroke Association, World Federation of Neuro rehabilitation, Indian Federation of Neuro rehabilitation and Indian Academy of Neurology. These important sessions will focus on key issues related to stroke care and policies said Prof Werner Hacke. Dr Hacke also stated that the WSO will be releasing the Road Map for stroke care during the conference.

Dr VG Pradeep Secretary of the ISA mentioned that as an Association we are supporting many young neurology trainees, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech therapists with a travel grant to participate in the congress. Dr Subash Kaul, Dean of Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad and the President of Indian Academy of Neurology stated that the WSC will be a great opportunity for the Indian Neurologists and stroke professionals from South Asia to interact with stroke experts from across the world.

There will be a one day session on stroke support organization and post stroke hobby exhibition. Dr Uppal President of Indian Stroke Association commented that this congress will have a huge impact on the development of stroke care services in the region and in India.

The Congress, Dr. Pandian said, will provide a cutting edge educational and scientific experience, focusing on the latest developments in acute management, rehabilitation and long term care. The inaugural function was followed by a cultural program—Nrityophara by Shankarananda Kalakshetra ensemble. It was choreographed by renowned dancer Dr. Ananda Shankar Jayant.