More than 50,000 people in Nepal suffer a stroke each year, association says

More than 50,000 people in Nepal suffer a stroke every year, according to Dr Raju Poudel, the outgoing president of the Nepal Stroke Association. He gave the figure to Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS) on Thursday, October 29, World Stroke Day, which is being marked this year under the slogan "Every Minute Counts".

Poudel said one person in Nepal has a stroke roughly every 10 minutes. A stroke happens when the blood supply to part of the brain is cut off, he explained, and brain tissue left without oxygen and nutrients can die.

How many die

Poudel said one-third of the people who suffer a stroke lose their lives, and urged the government to give prevention particular attention. In the same remarks he was reported as saying that around 15 to 20 per cent of stroke patients in Nepal die. The reports carry both figures and do not explain the difference between them.

Worldwide, around 12 million people suffer a stroke each year and half of them die, according to the figures Poudel cited. He said the government needs to act in time because stroke rates are high in least-developed and developing countries such as Nepal.

The association's work

The Nepal Stroke Association was set up in 2017 to study the extent of stroke in Nepal and how it is treated. It works with University Hospital Heidelberg in Germany to bring stroke treatment in line with international standards, and with GIZ and the World Health Organization on stroke-related programmes.

Risk factors

Poudel listed high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity and an unbalanced diet among the causes that raise the risk of stroke.