Stroke is one of the leading causes of death worldwide which results in patients suffering from both physical and mental breakdown. Although stroke is preventable by carefully controlling diet and physical activities, people are not giving adequate attention and priority to both preventable measures. Worldwide, 15 million people are suffering from stroke and 6 million die from it each year. In Myanmar, stroke is the leading cause of death and according to WHO 2014 data, an estimated 56,224 or 14.14% of deaths in Myanmar are from stroke.
There have been studies conducted in Southeast Asia on prevention of non-communicable diseases by controlling tobacco use and smoking. However, studies on how to educate people about stroke and how to help them plan their diet by reducing unhealthy fat intake are yet to be conducted in Myanmar. Myanmar people consume huge quantity of cooking oil; particularly groundnut and sesame oil in their traditional cuisines. Myanmar ranks 1st and 6th in the world in sesame and groundnut oil production respectively.
While collecting data, I have met patients from different places of Myanmar and most of them are from the working class. As they cannot spend a lot of money on their treatments and do not have enough facilities in places where they live, they travel to Yangon from far places just to get cheap or free treatments. However, as Myanmar is an underdeveloped country and public hospitals like YGH does not have enough medical facilities, patients do not get as satisfactory services as they should. Since they have left their jobs such as farming, selling goods and making furniture, they do not want to stay at the hospital for several months. Their progress thus is slow and they even do not get better or recover from stroke during the short hospital stay.
When I observe them, almost all of them do not have any knowledge about stroke and other neurological diseases. My intention is to provide them health knowledge and encourage them to do physical exercises every day.
References:
1. Thrift AG, e. (2016). Global Stroke Statistics. NCBI. Retrieved 22 March 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24350870
2. World Stroke Organization. (2016). World Stroke Campaign. Retrieved 6 February 2016, from http://www.world-stroke.org/advocacy/world-stroke-campaign
3. World Health Rankings. (2016). Health Profile: Myanmar. Retrieved 2 February 2016, from http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/country-health-profile/myanmar
4. Thakur, J., Narain, J., Garg, R., & Menabde, N. (2011). Tobacco use: A major risk factor for non communicable diseases in South-East Asia region. Indian Journal Of Public Health, 55(3), 155. http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0019-557x.89943
5. Wjnands, J., Biersteker, J., Hagedoorn, L., & Louisee, J. (2016). Business opportunities and food safety of the Myanmar edible oil sector (1st ed., p. 11). Den Haag: LEI Wageningen UR. Retrieved from https://www.rvo.nl/sites/default/files/2014/12/Oliezaden%20Myanmar-2014.pdf
By: Mya Yun Hlwar