A GLOBAL group, which Bahrain is a member of, has published a white paper which aims to create a regional task force to deal with a rising number of stroke cases.
Among the three-pronged goal of the document by Mission Thrombectomy 2020 (MT2020) released today marking World Stroke Day is to promote a treatment that reverses paralysis from a stroke in over 60 per cent of patients if done by experts within six hours of stroke symptoms.
A stroke occurs when there is a sudden interruption of blood supply to the brain, affecting arteries leading to and within the brain.
MT2020 Bahrain co-chairman Dr Wael Ebrahim told the GDN that the other goals are to raise awareness about the treatment known as mechanical thrombectomy, a type of minimally-invasive procedure to remove a clot from a patient’s artery; to recommend such care in countries and to encourage policymakers to implement this system to reduce the burden of stroke.
MT2020 is a global health campaign founded by the Society of Vascular and Interventional Neurology in 2016 to accelerate access to the treatment globally.
“The goal of MT2020 is to coalesce global public health efforts to double access to thrombectomy for stroke caused by large blocks – large vessel occlusion – in the brain every two years,” said Dr Ebrahim, who is also the stroke programme director of King Hamad University Hospital (KHUH).
“The aim is also to improve stroke care worldwide by increasing the rate of stroke thrombectomy for eligible patients from less than 100,000 procedures today to 202,000 annually by 2020 and thereby reducing global stroke disability.”
The GDN reported last year that 525 suspected stroke cases were registered at KHUH from February 2018 to August 2019. The shocking figure was attributed to the high prevalence of diabetes in the country.
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