Monday, February 27, 2012

Why should you support the WSO?


Editorial 

Why should you support the WSO?

The International Journal of Stroke is the flagship publication of the World Stroke Organization (WSO). Within a very brief period of time the WSO has clearly established itself as the lead stroke organization on the global stage. It’s focus on education and the promotion of research worldwide has made it a key collaborator with the World Health Organization. Moving stoke from under the cardiovascular umbrella and into the neurosciences within the WHO, presents a unique opportunity to focus on stroke specific problems, ranging from prevention right through to rehabilitation and community management. Do not underestimate the significance of this classification change as funding often follows WHO activities. As a stand-alone disease of such significant global burden within the neurosciences, the opportunities ahead must be firmly grasped! 

Why should you support the WSO? Primarily, a large professional membership will lend considerable weight to the argument that researchers are serious about reducing the burden of stroke, globally.

And secondarily, as the second most common cause of death worldwide, a proportional number of concerned investigators and clinicians should band together under the unified umbrella of the WSO. These are altruistic reasons for joining, and should be the primary driver for professionals becoming a member; however, there are also more practical and immediate benefits in being a WSO member, these include:
·      free subscription and online access to the International Journal of Stroke (IJS)
·      substantial discount to the registration fees for the World Stroke Congresses
·      Quarterly newsletter with information and updates in the field of stroke
·      exclusive eligibility to apply for WSO travel fellowships and awards associated with major scientific meetings of the WSO
·      free access to webcasted/podcasted congress sessions
·      access to the World Stroke Academy (WSA) – a global resource centre for information about stroke, and an opportunity for continuing education of healthcare professionals
·      inclusion in and access to the online WSO Membership Directory
·      right to host World Stroke Congresses and to participate in the call for bids
·      right to vote for, be nominated or elected to the Board of Directors 2012-2016
·      membership certificate (upon request).

With your support the WSO can be your advocate for change in systems worldwide helping to prevent, acutely treat, and rehabilitate stroke globally.

In this issue we draw attention to the impending Warfarin wars with a provocative Leading opinion article by Hans-Christoph Diener1 et al. The analogy drawn with the Diadoch wars is most appropriate; we are in the fascinating position of having a change of the therapeutic guard for the first time in 50 years, with a tense struggle among a number of potential successors. We will all watch with interest and, no doubt to a certain degree participate. The beneficiaries of course will be people today who will not have a stroke due to the introduction of these significantly better therapeutic agents. 

Interestingly, Yun-Fang Tsai et al, have provided data to illustrate the underuse of anticoagulants in patients with AF, particularly to parts of Asia. It seems likely that the Warfarin wars will result in a reversal of this unfortunate state of affairs. 

Of course we have other articles of interest as always!
Remember by supporting the WSO you also support our journal: the accessible voice of stroke internationally.


Geoffrey A. Donnan
This article will appear in the coming edition of the International Journal of Stroke.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Indigenous stroke patients treated worse: National audit

'Co-author Dr Dominique Cadilhac from the Stroke and Ageing Research Centre at Monash University said the data were controlled for patient clustering within hospitals, and only hospitals that treated at least one Indig- enous patient were included.

“If anything I think it underestimated the discrepancy,” said Dr Cadilhac, who also works at the National Stroke Foundation.'

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Smart Strokes Scholarships Stroke Society Australasia

http://www.stroke2012.com.au/

Smart Strokes Scholarships

The Smart Strokes Scholarship provides stroke nursing and allied health clinicians across Australasia the opportunity to receive financial assistance to attend the three-day Stroke 2012 Conference.
For more information on the Smart Strokes Scholarship please click here.
Please note that the closing date for applications is Friday, 20 April 2012.
If you have any queries please contact the Stroke 2012 Secretariat at +61 2 9431 8699 or stroke2012@conferenceaction.com.au

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