New WSO stroke support organisation member prioritises stroke prevention in New Zealand

Stroke Central Region is a not-for-profit, member-based organisation that provides support services for stroke survivors and their families in the central region of New Zealand, including a stroke community and field officers that guide those affected by stroke through the journey to recovery.

2019 has been a busy year for Stroke Central Region. With the number of stroke patients rising, our field officers have been getting more than twice as many stroke referrals than in 2016. In New Zealand, around 9,000 people suffer a stroke each year and that number is expected to increase by 40 percent by 2028. Due to this expected increase, our focus for 2020 will include primary stroke prevention. Helping us to put an infrastructure in place for this is Professor Valery Feigin.

Professor Feigin has recently been appointed Honorary Clinical Director to our Board of Governors which is a big milestone for Stroke Central. He is the director of the National Institute for Stroke and Applied Neurosciences at Auckland University of Technology (AUT). He is also an executive committee member of the World Stroke Organisation (WSO), and a World Health Organisation expert on stroke. He is currently the most cited scientist in New Zealand with more than 650 publications, including 340 scientific articles. He will be a major asset to our stroke community and we are looking forward to working with him.

Another big milestone for our organisation in 2019 will be the coordination of the World Stroke Day Campaign for New Zealand on the 29^th October. We feel very honoured to lead the campaign for WSO within our country and are currently liaising with other likeminded companies to partner with for this special day. Part of this campaign for New Zealand will be the promotion of the Stroke Riskometer App, developed by Professor Valery Feigin together with AUT. The App tells users their risk of stroke within the next 5-10 years and how they are able to lower their stroke risk.

Stroke Central staff

Looking forward to 2020, apart from focusing on stroke prevention, our Stroke Awareness Week will take place in April and is another big opportunity for us to raise the awareness of stroke, and coordinate our big fundraising campaign for the year. This is a big opportunity for all our members and volunteers to help, within their communities, to spread their knowledge on stroke, share information and help with raising funds for our charity.

October 2019 News

Stroke Central Region's #DontBeTheOneNZ Stroke Prevention Campaign was successfully launched on 29th October 2019 with the help of Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the World Stroke Organisation. To learn more about the year long campaign, the Stroke Riskometer App and how to prevent stroke, watch the full launch video or visit the #DontBeTheOneNZ website https://www.strokecentral.org.nz/dont-be-the-one/ 

For more information visit: https://www.strokecentral.org.nz/