Background
Acha was
established as a stroke support organization (SSO) in 2015 by brothers Timothy
and MacDonald Oguike, after the death of their father following a stroke. The
Oguike family found it very difficult to find the right information about
stroke facts, treatment and rehabilitation and the brothers believe this contributed
to their father’s death. Through its MasterStroke project, Acha aims to address
the burden of stroke in Nigeria through:
community stroke awareness and education campaigns; guidance on how to
access the right stroke treatment and long term support; and advocacy to decision makers for improved government stroke
awareness and risk management services.
Stroke
prevention advocacy
MacDonald won the World Stroke Campaign Award 2015 for outstanding individual achievement for his leadership of Acha's MasterStroke program that used an impressive combination of media, social media and mobile technology to raise awareness and understanding of stroke throughout Nigeria.
MacDonald won the World Stroke Campaign Award 2015 for outstanding individual achievement for his leadership of Acha's MasterStroke program that used an impressive combination of media, social media and mobile technology to raise awareness and understanding of stroke throughout Nigeria.
In 2016 Acha participated in the World Stroke Organization Advocacy Toolkit workshop. In preparation for the workshop, Acha used the Advocacy Toolkit’s advocacy plan template to draft its own plan. This plan was then further refined through peer and WSO feedback.
Acha’s advocacy goal is to secure government funding
for free blood pressure checks. Acha know they need to build awareness,
relationships and evidence to achieve their advocacy goal. In April 2017 they
ran blood pressure events in 6 states. During these events they aimed to establish
relationships with decision makers and capture data on high blood pressure
incidence.
The findings
A total of
390 people had their blood pressure checked at the events. The results
underline Acha’s aim to raise awareness of hypertension as a stroke risk
factor, to secure free access to blood pressure checks and to support people to
manage their risk.
149 (38%) had
hypertension (readings between 140-160/ 90-100). Within this number, a
total of 57 (38%) people were under the age bracket of 18-44 years old. Additionally
87 (22%) of people's readings showed that they were in the pre-hypertension
category (readings between 130-140/80-89). Within this number, a
total of 51 (59%) were between the ages of 18-44 years old.
This means
that 61% fall under the risk category for stroke! The results and outcome
of this campaign reinforces to Acha the urgent need for awareness on
hypertension and the need to manage blood pressure risk in Nigeria.
For
information on Acha Memorial Foundation, visit:
