29 October is observed as World Stroke Day (WSD) to create awareness among the general public about stroke prevention and treatment. Today the burden of stroke has increased with 4.85 million deaths in developing countries compared to 1.6 million deaths in developed countries. Locally, over the past four years there has been an increasing trend in the number of stroke cases.
This yearβs theme is βGreaterThanStrokeβ harnessing the power of sports to create awareness on stroke prevention involving prominent sportsmen and women around the world in the months of September and October 2024.
Led by the Stroke Focal Person and the nursing students of Royal Thimphu College, CRRH has conducted an awareness campaign to the public of Gelephu gewog and Samtenling Gewog on 25 October, 2024. A similar program was conducted in the evening of 26 October, at the Gelephu Thromde Park to the Gelephu Business community. On 29 October, an awareness programme was conducted to the Multi-Sectoral Task Force (MSTF) and staff of Sarpang Dzongkhag. Over a total of 260 people attended the awareness programme.
The campaign emphasized stroke prevention strategies, encouraging sports participation, regular physical activity, a healthy diet, and abstaining from tobacco and alcohol. The importance of treatment adherence for conditions like diabetes and hypertension was also highlighted. As part of the awareness activities, a stroke risk assessment was conducted, including measurements of blood pressure, height, weight, BMI, and blood sugar levels.
The Ministry of Healthβs Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) Programme, Thimphu.
