India currently has 500 stroke units and the government is planning to expand this network to ensure wider access to specialised care, Union Health Secretary Punya Srivastava said on Wednesday.
Stroke, which is often caused by conditions like diabetes and hypertension, is largely preventable, Srivastava added.
"While the ICMR is undertaking studies to establish stroke care pathways and specialised stroke units, the government is also committed to implement a hub-and-spoke model for stroke care," she said.
This would ensure optimised resource allocation and equitable access to specialised treatments and rehabilitation services nationwide, Srivastava said while addressing the National Stroke Summit 2025, organised by FICCI.
By recognising the critical importance of prevention, Srivastava said the ministry of health and family welfare has prioritised primary prevention strategies within its national health programmes.
These centres are integral to the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (NP-NCD), she said.
The government's move to increase the number of stroke units comes against the backdrop of a steady rise in cases of strokes in the country.
According to a study recently published in the Lancet Neurology Journal, India registered over 1.25 million new stroke cases in 2021, a 51 per cent increase compared to 650,000 cases in 1990.
Additionally, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has reported that stroke accounts for 41 per cent of all non-communicable disease (NCD) mortality and 72 per cent of NCD-related disability-adjusted life years.
The medtech industry is also looking for an opening in stroke care, with experts suggesting collaborations such as public-private partnerships (PPP).
-- Sanket Koul/Business Standard
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