Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 23: In India, 1.8 million people are suffering from stroke each year and the occurrence of stroke in India is much higher than the western countries as people of our country lack awareness and don’t know that stroke is treatable and preventable.
This was stated by Dr PN Renjen, Senior Consultant, Neurology, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals, while addressing the participants of ‘Walkathon’, which was organized by Apollo Hospitals to create awareness on stroke among the public at large. He added that over 80 million people in the world have experienced stroke and over 50 million survivors live with some form of permanent disability.
“Stroke is a potentially life-threatening event in which part of brain is deprived of adequate oxygen and energy. Various kinds of strokes are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality across the globe affecting millions of lives every year,” Dr Renjen said, adding “Prevention is always better than cure”. He said that creating awareness about symptoms of stroke amongst the general public is the need of the hour as it is a medical emergency.
P Shivkumar, CEO, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said, “As the population in a country ages, the burden of dealing with stroke increases in terms of caring for an ever increasing number of new stroke patients and stroke survivors. The proportion of younger patients suffering from stroke is higher in India, seconded by cardio vascular diseases. This year, the thought process takes the event beyond, from being just a sport-related event through linking the fitness conscious aspect with healthy individuals, in turn creating better communities. The battle against stroke should be a team effort which includes Government, Civic Bodies, Physicians and general public to benefit the society.”
The event saw participation of more than 500 people from various departments and doctors on the walk for a cause. Students too actively participated in the walkathon. To engage the participants, Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals also arranged some fun filled activities such as painting and quiz competition as part of the walkathon.
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