We will lose $8bn to stroke, others — Minister

The Federal Government on Tuesday in Abuja
has estimated that the country's national
income loss to premature deaths from stroke
and other diseases in the next 10 years would
be $8 billion if necessary steps are not taken.
The Minister of Health, Prof Onyebuchi
Chukwu, said this during the World Stroke Day
celebration with the theme, " Because I Care."
At the event organised by the Nigeria Stroke
Assembly, he quoted the World Health
Organisation statistics to back up his claim.
He added that currently, the economic loss to
the country from stroke, heart disease and
diabetes alone, as estimated by the WHO in
2005, was $400 million.
The minister stated that stroke remained a
major cause of neurological admissions in
Nigeria with a high mortality rate of 40-50
per cent within the first three months of
diagnosis.
He said, "A facility-based study showed that
39 per cent of those who survived stroke
after three months died within 12 months and
the remaining 12 per cent developed severe
disability."
According to him, President Goodluck
Jonathan has taken the issue of stroke very
seriously and demonstrated it by flagging off
the National Stroke Prevention Programme on
November 9, aimed at encouraging Nigerians
to routinely carry out medical check-ups as
well as modify their lifestyles.
Chukwu said the same slogan, "Because I
Care", was used last year, adding that
repeating it this year shows how significant it
was to the prevention of stroke, care and
support for those who had experienced
stroke.
He said, "The Stroke Assembly strategically
offers us the opportunity to reflect on the
campaign slogan for the World Stroke Day:
Because I Care . The Assembly has also
brought us together to remind us that stroke
is preventable and can be adequately
managed. I will like to emphasise that because
you care, you must love your heart to protect
your brain."
Earlier in her remarks, the Chief Executive
Officer, Stroke Action, Rita Melifonwu, said
that many health practitioners in the country
needed training on stroke management,
adding that most of them, including doctors,
are not adequately trained to do that.
She said, "We need a multi-faceted medical
team approach to stroke care; a team that has
a nurse, a doctor, a therapist and so on. That
is why people still die in the hospital."