Dubai: Dubai will set up the first telestroke facility in collaboration with Rashid Hospital to link at least 14 hospitals in the UAE, integrating them through telemedicine on implementing specific stroke protocols by the end of 2016.
Giving exclusive information to Gulf News on the sidelines of the third Middle East and North Africa Stroke Conference, Dr Sohail Al Rukn, head of the Stroke Unit of Rashid Hospital said: “Time and correct protocols are extremely crucial in management and treatment of stroke and can actually save a life and even have a patient walk out with little disability. Upon examination we found that many health care specialists in hospitals across UAE could be taught to cut back the time of diagnosis and the life-saving injection as well as management of the condition by half. Right now, the process of integrating four hospitals across the UAE is under way. These include Al Ain, Al Qasimi, Khalifa and Saudi German with Rashid hospital, which received accreditation last year and is in the process of setting up protocols and guidelines. This programme will be extended to cover many hospitals once the telestroke project is undertaken next year.”
As World Stroke Day is observed on October 29, it is important to understand the impact this debilitating condition has on people. Strokes continue to remain the leading cause of death and disability around the world, including in the UAE, with the incidence of its occurrence projected to double in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region in the next 15 years. “Currently, every year, 7,000 people suffer from strokes,” Dr Al Rukn added.
Dr Al Rukn told Gulf News that as part of the National Health Strategy 2021, Primary Health Centres across the UAE had initiated a primary Cardio Vascular Disease (CVD) prevention programme. “This includes a holistic approach of addressing four major lifestyle diseases — high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and disorders related to smoking. All these are major factors contributing to the high incidence of strokes.”
Karim Al Aloui, the Managing Director of Boehringer Ingleheim (Meta), major partners in the stroke prevention initiative with the Dubai government and Dubai Health Authority, elaborated on the holistic approach that hospitals are being trained to take. “When a stroke patient arrives at the hospital, the maximum time from door to administering of the needle should not be more than an hour. The patient arrives at the emergency, is sent to the triage nurse who examines the patient and, upon confirmation, presses the stroke button. The patient is taken for a laboratory test, the core team begins action, CT scan and finally, the injection is administered. We are looking at how hospitals manage this crucial one hour and our research reveals that patients who got help within this golden hour returned home without a disability and recovered quickly as against patients who lost precious time. Hospitals integrated into this initiative have their health staff receiving training and will get certification. While latest medications can help a patient, combined efforts of stroke specialists in the region will help contain the debilitating effect that a stroke can have on a person and save precious lives.”
Dr Al Rukn added that 20 hospitals in the region are slated to receive the training as part of the Mena stroke initiative. “These include four each in UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, three in Lebanon, two each in Kuwait, Iraq and Iran, and one in Bahrain.”
The conference was inaugurated by Humaid Al Qutami, Chairman and Director General of Dubai Health Authority (DHA)