Leading experts call for urgent action to avoid stroke crisis across asia-pacific region

This is true across the world. Again with the prevention mantra, no one wants to tackle the hard work of preventing the cascade of death or figure out how to get to 100% recovery.
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According to a new report, How Can We Avoid a Stroke Crisis in the Asia-Pacific Region?, urgent coordinated action is needed to avoid millions of preventable strokes, which leave many patients who have atrial fibrillation (AF) both mentally and physically disabled, or dead, every year.

• Experts from medical and patient communities call on national policymakers in the Asia-Pacific region to take urgent action against preventable strokes that strike millions of people with atrial fibrillation (AF) each year
• Countries in the Asia-Pacific region carry a disproportionate share of the burden of stroke with millions of people affected; a burden that will grow as life expectancy rises¹
• AF, the most common, sustained abnormal heart rhythm, increases the risk of stroke five-fold and is responsible for 15-20% of all strokes, and for 20% of all ischaemic strokes (caused by a blood clot blocking a blood vessel in the brain)^2,3,4,5
• The consequences of stroke can devastate not only a patient's life, but also that of families and carers.^6,7 Long-term help and care is required
  for most survivors
• The economic implications of stroke are significant. For example, in China, the overall mean cost of hospitalization for stroke in 2010 equated to more than half the average annual wage⁸
• The impact of stroke is predicted to rise dramatically as the number of individuals affected by AF is expected to increase 2.5 fold by 2050, due to an ageing population and improved survival of patients with conditions which predispose AF (e.g., heart attack)^9,10

According to a new report, How Can We Avoid a Stroke Crisis in the Asia-Pacific Region?, urgent coordinated action is needed to avoid millions of preventable strokes, which leave many patients who have atrial fibrillation (AF) both mentally and physically disabled, or dead, every year.
The report, launched today during the 18th Asian Pacific Congress of Cardiology (APCC) by Action for Stroke Prevention, a group of health experts from across the globe, proposes urgent measures to prevent stroke in Asia-Pacific patients with AF, the most common, sustained abnormal heart rhythm and a major cause of stroke.² The report’s recommendations are endorsed by 32 leading Asia-Pacific and other global medical societies and patient organizations, reinforcing and recognizing the need for a call to action.
A stroke epidemic across the Asia-Pacific region, and indeed the rest of the world, is imminent if actions are not taken now to slow the rising tide of preventable strokes occurring every year. Dr. Sim Kui Hian, Head, Department of Cardiology and Head, Clinical Research Centre, Sarawak General Hospital, Malaysia, commented, "The incidence of stroke across the Asia-Pacific region is continuing to grow and constitutes both a major public health issue and a significant economic burden. Members of Action for Stroke Prevention have come together to highlight the risk of a stroke crisis and urge policymakers, national governments, healthcare professionals, patient groups and medical societies to act together now to prevent the devastating impact stroke has on people, their families and carers."
Recommendations made by the Report include:

• Improving awareness of the impact of AF and AF-related stroke
• Developing methods for early and adequate diagnosis of AF and stroke risk assessment
• Taking new and better approaches to prevent stroke in patients with AF
• Facilitating the exchange of best practice between national governments in the Asia-Pacific region
• Developing strategies to support adherence to guidelines
• Providing equal and adequate administration of therapy for patients with AF across countries in the Asia-Pacific region
• Advancing research into the causes, prevention and management of AF, and addressing the current paucity of epidemiological information available in Asia-Pacific

Strokes are preventable - prevent them
"With the majority of AF-related strokes being preventable, we believe that implementation of these recommendations now will contribute to the prevention of stroke in patients with AF and, in turn, reduce the dramatically increasing clinical, economic, and social burden of stroke in Asia-Pacific," said Professor Gregory Lip, Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of Birmingham Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, City Hospital, Birmingham, UK.