Partners join to fight country's top killer: strokes

The World Stroke Organization recently announced in Beijing a global partnership with the medical technology, service and solutions company Medtronic aimed at increasing stroke awareness and to support stroke patients worldwide.

The partnership, announced during the 2016 Annual Scientific Session of the Chinese Stroke Association and Tiantan International Stroke Conference held in late June, will focus on raising stroke awareness through education and advocacy, as well as promoting recent advances in stroke, which involves spreading knowledge and influencing the development of health systems, says the association president, Stephen Davis.

Every year about 15 million people worldwide have a stroke. Among these, nearly a third die, and a third are left permanently physically challenged, says WSO, the world's leading organization in the fight against stroke and the only international stroke NGO recognized by the World Health Organization.

In China more than 2 million strokes are recorded a year, and stroke is the main cause of death in the country, Davis says.

"Stroke is treatable," he says, adding that recognizing early signs, treating it as a medical emergency with admission to a stroke unit and having professional care can substantially improve stroke outcomes.

Prospects for preventing and treating stroke are far better today than even a few years ago, because technologies such as the stent retriever have made huge strides in treating stroke, and insertable cardiac monitors help physicians detect atrial fibrillation (an abnormal heart rhythm characterized by rapid and irregular beating that can cause stroke) efficiently, he says.

However, in China and in many other countries, effective transport and access to professional treatment are not as readily available as they ought to be.

Even though China has many of the world's top stroke experts and conducts important trials and very good research, Davis says, "there is a big mountain to climb" to cope with the situation.

In rural areas where the health system lags that of metropolitan centers, the challenge is even bigger, and that applies to other countries, he says.

For instance, tissue plasminogen activator treatment rates in China are still not as high as they should be, he adds. TPA is the first line of treatment against ischemic stroke, which travels in the blood to a clot that causes stroke, and breaks it up.

Eva Xu, senior director of the neurovascular business at Medtronic Greater China, says Medtronic and WSO are committed to improving health care and the quality of life for stroke survivors, and Medtronic is proud to work with WSO to educate professionals and the public at large to raise awareness of stroke and to train professionals.