Stroke Burden and Stroke Services in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, with a population of 165.6 million people, is located in the northwest region of South Asia, bordered on the west, north, and east by India, southeast by Myanmar, and south by the Bay of Bengal [1]. The per-capita income is USD 1,909, poverty rate is 20.5%, literacy (7+ years) is 73.2%, and life expectancy is 72.3 years; 74% live in rural areas. Stroke is a major cause of death and disability in the region, with an ageand sex-standardized mortality rate of 54.8 per 100,000 and disability-adjusted life years lost of 888.1 per 100,000 in Bangladesh [2]. The prevalence of stroke at approximately 1–2% of those aged over 20 years [3] is similar in males and females, and urban and rural areas [4], but increases with age such that the ratio of infarction to hemorrhage is 2.91 in the community [5]. Stroke incidence has not been studied in adequate epidemiological studies. In a large multicenter hospital study, 72% had ischemic stroke, and the frequency of hypertension, smoking, diabetes mellitus, ischemic heart disease, and dyslipidemia was 58%, 45%, 23%, 17%, and 5%, respectively [6]; these are not from population-based studies. Small-vessel “lacunar” disease was the most common type of ischemic stroke, and there is a clear seasonal variation in the frequency of hemorrhagic stroke [7, 8]. The high stroke mortality among Bangladeshi populations may be due to the high frequency of the conventional atherosclerotic risk factors, especially of hypertension and diabetes mellitus [9]; there is a strong belief over the importance of betel nut chewing, squatting and straining during defecation, chronic infection, vitamin D deficiency, and the combined effect of smoking and tobacco chewing [10]. Stroke mortality might be related to stroke severity, delayed diagnosis, and stroke care gaps discussed further below. Medical services are free in the community [11]. Community clinics are available at villages at ward levels, while small hospital services are located at the union and upazila levels. Secondary level care is provided at district hospitals; tertiary level care is provided at medical college hospitals and super-specialty hospitals. There are 2,213 hospitals with 45,723 registered physicians, but only 160 trained neurologists through training programs only provided at Dhaka Medical College (DMC) and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). There are 2,300 technologists operating 250 CT scans and 80 MRIs in Bangladesh. Acute care for stroke patients is available in 2 government and 5 private hospitals, all situated in Dhaka, the capital city, while subacute care provided by neurologists is available in 23 government hospitals located in most parts of the country and 7 private hospitals. Stroke is the most common condition among neurology in-patients (48%) [12] and out-patients (24%) [13]. The Bangladesh Rehabilitation Assistance Committee (BRAC), a nongovernmental organization (NGO), provides stroke rehabilitation services to patients who cannot afford treatment and conducts education programs to raise awareness about the signs and symptoms of stroke [14]. Another NGO, the Centre for the Rehabilitation of