Caretaker Sindh Chief Minister Justice (Retd) Maqbool Baqar on Saturday stressed that great efforts were needed to improve stroke care and acute stroke centers in Pakistan’s second-largest province. While virtually inaugurating the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases’ (NICVD) ‘Stroke Intervention Programme’ launched in Tando Muhammad Khan, the chief minister said that the estimated population of Pakistan was 225 million with a median age of 22.5 years and to cater to such a large population, the increasing incidence of stroke and lack of infrastructure in both urban and rural areas require immediate attention in Pakistan.
While addressing the guests at the ceremony, Baqar said through a video link that there was a high proportion of young stroke with poor stroke outcomes. Acute stroke care is scarce in Pakistan due to few stroke units, and limited availability of alteplase (clot buster treatment) and thrombectomy services in the country, he said. He further emphasised that the stroke burden remained high in Pakistan with limited available facilities for stroke care in the country. He commented that after the availability of alteplase (r-tPA) in Pakistan, efforts to improve facilities and centers were need of the hour.
Lauding the NICVD’s work, the CM recalled that in 2021, the hospital took up the initiative to provide comprehensive stroke services including clot buster treatment and advanced treatment of clot removal (thrombectomy).
“During the last 2 years, it has treated more than 4000 stroke patients providing acute stroke care services,” Baqar maintained. The CM disclosed that the NICVD had trained 8 cardiologists to carry out clot removal procedures and were now moving forward to start stroke services in SICVD Tando Muhammad Khan and SICVD Sukkur to extend the service throughout Sindh.
