Manipal Hospitals unveils ‘Be Stroke Smart’ campaign in city
Kolkata: On Monday, Manipal Hospitals marked a major step forward in a series of endeavours aimed at stroke awareness and better management of the condition by launching its ‘Be Stroke Smart’ campaign in the city. The event marked the celebration of World Stroke Day, globally observed every year on October 29, where leading neurologists and neurosurgeons at Manipal Hospitals’ units shared important insights.
The programme was attended by eminent stroke specialists from Manipal Hospitals, including Dr Rabindra Narayan Bhattacharya, consultant neurosurgeon, Manipal Hospitals Dhakuria, Dr LN Tripathy, senior vice-chairman, director & senior consultant, Medica Institute of Neurological Diseases (MIND), (now a part of Manipal Hospitals), Dr Apratim Chatterjee, interventional neurologist and stroke specialist, Manipal Hospitals Mukundapur, Dr Nirmalya Ray, Consultant - Neuro Interventional Radiologist, Medica Superspecialty Hospital, (now a part of Manipal Hospitals) and Dr Ayanabh Deb Gupta, Regional COO, Manipal Hospitals (East) among others.
The ‘Be Stroke Smart’ campaign features community-oriented programmes across Kolkata, especially in residential complexes and older adult groups, building the capacity of citizens on early stroke recognition skills and self-assess and recognise symptoms. It includes a citywide awareness drive, a network of informed first responders and ‘stroke-ready’ resources supported by the advanced infrastructure in stroke care from Manipal Hospitals. Along with making the hospitals stroke-ready, the “Be Stroke Smart” campaign has started specific training programmes for ambulance drivers to identify potential symptoms of stroke. Manipal Hospitals has also begun outreach programmes across Kolkata to educate the community in proper practices of stroke awareness and empower them with lifesaving skills to make it a ‘Stroke Smart’ city. Dr Deb Gupta underlined the need for awareness in stroke prevention. “With the ‘Be Stroke Smart’ Kolkata campaign, we aim to create a stroke-ready ecosystem in eastern India, where each citizen has the necessary awareness to detect early symptoms and seek medical intervention without delay,” he said. Stroke is now one of the biggest killers in India, with death cases that have risen by 43 per cent between 1990 and 2019.
