The World Stroke Organization (WSO) honoured eight stroke centres in Egypt for their efforts in providing high standard and effective medical care in the field of stroke management.
With 250,000 individuals suffering from stroke annually in Egypt, those patients should be treated quickly, within 3-4 hours from the occurrence of injury.
The international honouring by the WSO proves the high quality of stroke centres in Egypt, in collaboration with the Egyptian Society of Neurology Psychiatry and Neurosurgery (ESNPN), and the Angels initiative.
The eight stroke centres are geographically distributed across Egypt, with six of them located at university hospitals; Cairo University Hospital, Ain Shams University Hospital, Ain Shams University Specialized Hospital, Tanta University Hospital, Assiut University Hospital – Neurology, Suez Canal University Hospital, in addition to Nasr City Hospital and Misr International Hospital.
The Angels initiative was launched back in 2016 under the auspices of the European Stroke Organization (ESO).
In 2019, the initiative witnessed successful collaboration with the Supreme Council of Universities and the ESNPN to execute a comprehensive stroke educational programme accredited by the American Association of Continuous Medical Education and endorsed by the ESO.
The programme offered online lectures by neurology experts of the ESNPN.
Professor Hany Aref, Head of the Neurology Department at Ain Shams University and Treasurer of the ESNPN, said, “Egypt needs numerous qualified stroke centres to accommodate the high number of patients, as we only have 43 centres across Egypt. We aim through ‘Angels’ initiative to develop launch 500 stroke centres nationwide.”
He stated, “Stroke is an emergency case that requires immediate medical intervention to reduce damage and occurrence of any complications.”
In the same context, Dr. Hussam Salah, Professor of Neurology at Cairo University, Executive Director of Cairo University hospitals, Secretary General of the Stroke Chapter of the ESNPN and Member of the MOH National Stroke Board, clarified how stroke requires highly efficient and rapid medical care as it can lead to patient’s death within hours if not diagnosed and treated quickly.
General Manager of pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim in Egypt, Mohamed Meshref, said that the company had launched the Angle initiative to train the medical teams on stroke management in various university hospitals, in cooperation with the Supreme Council of Universities, the Egyptian Society of Neuropsychiatry and Neurosurgery, and the Egyptian Stroke Association
He added that the Healthcare workers need to be well acquainted with “the Focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) and the stroke management protocols to save the patient in what we call ‘the golden hour’ which is 60 minutes since the start of symptoms to prevent complications.”
Dr. Ahmed Bassiouni, Professor of Neurology and Interventional Neurology at Ain Shams University, Head of Interventional Neurology Division of the ESNPN, Supervisor of the Stroke Unit at Nasr City Hospital for Health Insurance, stated his anticipation towards the expansion of the initiative across Egypt, stating “The provision of excellent medical services shall be the goal of every stroke center to ensure the safety and health for every patient.”
He said that once a patient arrives at any of the stroke centres, the specialised team analyse the case and decides on the right protocol to treat the case.
He asserted that time is a very important element that supports the team in their decision on the suitable treatment, therefore we urge that when a patient or caregivers notice any of the stroke symptoms to rush to hospitals as soon as possible.
Dr. Ahmed Abdel Aleem, Professor of Neurology and Head of the stroke division at Qasr Al-Aini Hospital, said, “We are also aiming to expand the Egyptian experience to several Arab and Middle Eastern countries like Jordan and Iraq, to support them in preparing the setup for stroke management.”
