One in four Malaysians estimated to suffer from stroke by 2040, says Health DG

PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): The Global Burden of Disease Stroke Statistics Worldwide survey in 2016 estimated that one in four Malaysians will suffer a stroke by 2040 if no preventive action is taken, says Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah (pic).

He said to avoid this, the people of this country need to adopt a healthy lifestyle by not smoking or consuming tobacco in any way, following a healthy diet, doing physical activities and avoiding alcohol consumption.

Apart from that, he said, all parties need to play a role in helping patients and caregivers as well as implementing prevention and control measures to ensure the prevalence and complications of a stroke in the country can be reduced.

"MOH (Health Ministry) calls on all parties, especially health workers to work together to provide quality health services and patient-centred care.

"This can help patients and caregivers in addressing issues related to stroke and (efforts to) reduce the prevalence and complications will be achieved," he said in a statement in conjunction with World Stroke Day 2021 on Friday (Oct 29).

According to the Monitoring Stroke Burden in Malaysia study conducted in 2017, Dr Noor Hisham said it was estimated that 150 out of 100,000 Malaysians suffered from stroke with an average daily hospitalisation of 92 cases.

He said the study also reported that 40 per cent of stroke patients were under 60 years old.

"Malaysia also records almost 32 deaths every day due to stroke and stroke patients are burdened with various morbidities where seven out of 10 stroke patients depend on others to survive," he said.

Although the quality of acute stroke services in the country has shown improvement, there are still individuals who suffer from disability after a stroke.

He said the disability was complex and involved various aspects including physical, cognitive, social and emotional.

On the government's commitment, he said the MOH had established the Strategic Framework of the Medical Programme 2021-2025 in May last year by outlining seven key strategies, especially to strengthen the delivery of health services in hospitals.- Bernama