WSC 2022 | The rising global burden of stroke

Valery Feigin, MD, PhD, FRSNZ, FRAS, FAAN, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand, gives an insight into the critical importance of improving primary and secondary stroke prevention worldwide. Over the last 30-40 years, there has been an unprecedented growth in stroke burden. Globally, the number of people affected by, or who remained disabled from, stroke has tripled in the past few decades, with the highest burden in lower-income and lower-middle-income countries. This increase cannot be explained entirely by population growth or an ageing population. Despite the overall declines in age-standardized stroke incidence, prevalence, and death rates in the last 10 years, the pace of decline is much reduced compared to previous decades. Notably, the age-standardized rates of stroke incidence, prevalence, and death have started to increase in people younger than 70 in the last 5 years. If this issue is not addressed, the current burden will increase 50% by 2050, resulting in an unmanageable strain on global health services. The only way to manage the stroke pandemic is to focus on prevention strategies. Not only primary prevention, but also secondary prevention is essential since the rate of recurrent stroke remains high. Moving forward, it is important to raise awareness of the global stroke burden and to acknowledge the need for prevention strategy implementation to reduce its prevalence. This interview took place at the World Stroke Congress 2022 in Singapore.

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