Jakarta, IO – The World Stroke Day is commemorated every 29 October. This year, the theme is “Minutes Can Save Lives”. Global data shows that this non-communicable disease kills 41 million people a year. That’s equal to a 71% death rate, with 15 million people dying at the age of 30-69 a year because of it, and 85% of early deaths because of stroke occur in low-middle income countries. Stroke is also the highest cause of disability: more of one third (33%) of its sufferers have to depend on others just to live their daily lives.
As the theme reminds us, each minute in the onset of strokes is valuable. If you come across a case, rush the patient to the nearest medical facility to get treatment.
“Globally, 1 in 4 of us will have a stroke. Don’t be the one! That’s 1 person catching a stroke every 2 seconds! There are 13.7 million new stroke cases a year, 116 million die because of strokes every year, and there are 80 million stroke survivors worldwide, putting the count at 116 million productive years lost to stroke. The 2018 Baseline Health Research shows stroke prevalence in Indonesia at 10.9 per mil, with the highest rate in East Kalimantan at 14.7 per mil and the lowest in Papua at 4.1 per mil,” reported dr. Eva Susanti, S. Kp, M.Kes., Ministry of Health’s Director for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, in a media meet on Tuesday (25/10/2022).
There are four changes that affect our increased prevalence of stroke: epidemiological, demographic, technological, and econo-socio-cultural. In terms of epidemiology, communicable diseases are not yet (fully) resolved, but non-communicable diseases continue to increase; in demographics, the incidence of non-communicable diseases continuously increases as life expectancy lengthens; in technology, easier access to foods and transportation allows sedentary lives, while society’s economics affect social condition and culture, making us lazier and able to afford richer foods.