7.6 million people would die of stroke in 2030 ― WHO

A Consultant Physician with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Dr Emmanuel Effa has said that a recent research conducted by the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 7.6 million people would die of stroke out of a total of 23 million people that would be affected by disease in the year 2030.

Dr. Effa, who made the revelation on Tuesday in Calabar during an media roundtable for  journalists organized by Cochrane Nigeria at  the Institute for Tropical Diseases stated that annually 24% of  all admissions in hospitals in Nigeria are stroke related.

He said 41% out of 100,000 people in Nigeria have stroke which is however less than the situation in Tanzania where 316 people are down with stroke out of 100,000 people which is said to be the highest.

According to him, for every stroke case the patient must have had some symptoms especially those with high blood pressure and warned people to be mindful of what they eat, perform regular exercise and go for regular medical checkups to ascertain their state of health.

“24% of all admissions in medical wards in Nigerian hospital die of stroke; It is one of the silent killers, it occurs when there is a clot or a rupture in the blood supply to a part of the brain.”

“Those with high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol level, illicit drugs consumers and smokers stand a high chance of going down on stroke. It is therefore essential for people to watch what they eat and undertake regular exercises.”

According to him, stroke is an emergency situation and doctors in most hospitals have the ability to intervene to save the situation through the administration of intravenous injections, drips and oxygen administration to save the life of a stroke patient and called for early evacuation of anyone suspected to have had stroke to hospital to save his life.