Stroke is one of Nepal’s heaviest health burdens and is not only the third leading cause of death in Nepal, but also associated with a drastic reduction in quality of life! Still, most people in Nepal have limited access to adequate stroke care and the awareness about stroke is low.

In 2021, the Nepal Stroke Association launched a nationwide initiative to provide basic stroke care for everyone in collaboration with scientists from the University Hospital Heidelberg. During the first funding period of the project  (2021 – 2023) more than 1,000 health care professionals attended 26 stroke-related workshops conducted by Nepalese and international stroke experts. Quality monitoring through the Registry of Stroke Care Quality (RES-Q) was introduced and collaboration with both, national and international, stakeholders was established. Additionally, awareness campaigns reached over 3 million people using social media campaigns as well as live events.

As we are entering the second funding period, the project continues to strive for the widespread access to stroke ready hospitals and care centers in Nepal. In addition to our existing activities, our goals for this project period include the further development of quality monitoring into a National Stroke Registry and the development of a national stroke roadmap and a recognized training program for health care professionals.

The project is supported by Hospital Partnerships funding program of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and financed by the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the Else Kröner-Fresenius foundation (EKFS).