Representatives of the Medical Services Administration and Bayer Vietnam sign a communication programme on strengthening awareness on stroke prevention and control in Viet Nam on Tuesday. — VNS Photo Thanh Hai
The health ministry’s Medical Services Administration (MSA) and Bayer Vietnam signed a communication programme on stroke prevention for the community in Viet Nam in the 2021-23 period on Tuesday.
The co-operation programme aims to improve the community’s awareness about disease prevention in general and stroke prevention and control in particular. As part of the programme, MSA and Bayer Vietnam will develop an electronic communication portal that will provide accurate information and useful medical knowledge about stroke prevention and treatment.
The electronic information channel will provide important information on strokes to the community such as causes, symptoms, treatments and recommendations for general stroke prevention through lifestyle changes and treatment compliance.
The portal, which is linked to the current website of the MSA, will regularly update information on building a healthy lifestyle, stroke prevention and health improvement and raise public awareness about strokes. The reliable source of information will be a useful tool to help doctors in advising patients about disease prevention in general and strokes in particular.
MSA director Luong Ngoc Khue said that implementing the National Strategy on Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases for 2013-20 and developing a strategy for the next period was one of the important focuses of the health sector in the coming years.
“We hope that the cooperation progamme will contribute to raising the community’s awareness so that people can proactively prevent and control diseases in general and strokes in particular. It will also contribute to improving the quality of medical examination and treatment for Vietnamese people and reducing medical costs in the coming years,” said Khue.
“Bayer hopes that the partnership with the MSA will bring many meaningful values to the community, especially in contributing to reducing the burden of disease and improving the quality of life for Vietnamese people,” said Tran Thi Lan Huong, Medical Director of the Pharmaceutical branch, Bayer Vietnam.
Health experts said that strokes are the leading cause of disability and the third most common cause of death in Viet Nam. Each year, there are about 200,000 stroke cases, of which about 50 per cent of patients died. Although many people are fortunate to survive the stroke, they still suffer severe sequels, even losing working ability, creating burdens on families and society. Normally, strokes are common in people 50 years of age and older, but the age of people suffering strokes is getting younger. Specifically, the rate of young and middle-aged people makes up about one-third of all stroke cases.
According to statistics in hospitals, the average rate of strokes among young people increases by about 2 per cent per year, of which the number of men is four times higher than that of women. That is why it is essential and important to increase access to information on stroke prevention and treatment. — VNS