The World Stroke Organization has a growing patient stroke support organization network across the world and in Ghana making connections within this network is helping to raise stroke awareness.
Clara Boatemaa, a 25 year old university student based in Oxford, England contacted the WSO about setting up a charity to support stroke awareness in Ghana. Clara comes from a small town in the suburb of Sunyani in Ghana. After the sudden death of her mother from a stroke in 2017, Clara became more aware of how unaware and uneducated people are about stroke in Sunyani. She has now become passionate about educating people about this disease.
Clara Boatemaa, a 25 year old university student based in Oxford, England contacted the WSO about setting up a charity to support stroke awareness in Ghana. Clara comes from a small town in the suburb of Sunyani in Ghana. After the sudden death of her mother from a stroke in 2017, Clara became more aware of how unaware and uneducated people are about stroke in Sunyani. She has now become passionate about educating people about this disease.
Clara used the opportunity to raise stroke awareness in the
community to mark her mother's one year anniversary.
The major causes of stroke in the
community are hypertension, excessive alcohol intake, tobacco smoking and abuse of drugs.
SASNET- Ghana led by the Director of Operations Ad Adams
Ebenezer with the support from the Ghana NCD Alliance, organized the two day awareness event in which 1,600
people participated.
On the first day of the programme, the team went on
a walk through Odumase with the
theme 'Odumase Up Again After Stroke'. The team shared brochures on
prevention of stroke and other NCDs.
There were free
medical screenings and the common risk factor identified during the screening was elevated blood pressure.
The chiefs and the elders of the community attended the event and Clara was appointed as the SASNET- Ghana ambassador for the UK. Clara has pledged to help SASNET - Ghana with its goal to establish a rehabilitation centre in the community to
enable citizens to check their blood pressure and for people affected by stroke to access rehabilitation.
