Journal article
Stroke care development in Sri Lanka: The urgent need for Neurorehabilitation services
Tissa Wijeratne, Padma Gunaratne, Ranjanee Gamage, Gamini Pathirana, Sunethra Senanayake, Nirodha De Silva, Darshana Sirisena, Darshana Wijegunasinghe
NEUROLOGY ASIA | ASEAN NEUROLOGICAL ASSOC | Published : 2011
Abstract
Stroke is the leading cause of adult disability in Sri Lanka. Each year one in 110 people in Sri Lanka suffer from a stroke. Population of Sri Lanka is approximately 20 million. It is predicted that, by 2020, 20% of the population in Sri Lanka will be older than 65 years of age. As stroke commonly occurs in the elderly, there is thus an impending epidemic of stroke in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka is served by about 30 neurologists (one neurologist per 600,000 people). There are six stroke units in Sri Lanka currently. The lack of stroke units and limited opportunities for neurorehabilitation are major limitations for stroke care in Sri Lanka presently. Thus, training of more neurologists and establi..
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