Cerebrovascular disease and Stroke (Brain Attack) is the third leading cause of death in India, according to a joint report released in January 2013 by the Government of India and the Centres for Disease Control, Atlanta, US. More Indians die of cerebrovascular disease than due to tuberculosis, malaria, HIV/AIDS or road traffic accidents. Whereas there are national programmes for control of tuberculosis, HIV and malaria, there is no such programme for prevention and management of stroke and cerebrovascular disease in India. The annual incidence of stroke in the country has increased from 13 per 100,000 in 1969 to 145 per 100,000 in 2006.
The costs of acute care and managing these patients in long term are astounding. In another study, the overall DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years) lost due to stroke were 795.57 per 100,000 person years. This means that if 100,000 people were to live…
