Enhancing Africa's stroke workforce to address the stroke burden: a proposal from the African's stroke organization's educational and training committee

Stroke is the second leading cause of death and disability in Africa, disproportionately affecting individuals in their most productive years and placing an immense socio-economic burden on families and healthcare systems. Despite the growing stroke burden, Africa faces a severe shortage of trained...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Paul Bolaji, Ebenezer Ad Adams, Rufus Akinyemi, Mayowa Owolabi, Foad Abd-Allah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Stroke
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fstro.2025.1611194/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850118548393820160
author Paul Bolaji
Ebenezer Ad Adams
Rufus Akinyemi
Mayowa Owolabi
Foad Abd-Allah
author_facet Paul Bolaji
Ebenezer Ad Adams
Rufus Akinyemi
Mayowa Owolabi
Foad Abd-Allah
author_sort Paul Bolaji
collection DOAJ
description Stroke is the second leading cause of death and disability in Africa, disproportionately affecting individuals in their most productive years and placing an immense socio-economic burden on families and healthcare systems. Despite the growing stroke burden, Africa faces a severe shortage of trained stroke specialists, with only three neurologists per 10 million people compared to up to 900 per 10 million in high-income countries. This gap has led to inadequate acute management, limited rehabilitation services, and poor long-term outcomes. To address this crisis, the African Stroke Organization (ASO) established an Education and Training Committee focused on developing a structured stroke education framework. This proposal outlines ASO's strategic initiatives to build stroke care capacity through research, professional training, service development, and advocacy. By implementing a comprehensive stroke education program-including online courses, hands-on workshops, conference-based training, and a future summer school, ASO aims to train 5,000 by 2030. Through this initiative, ASO seeks to empower African healthcare professionals, reduce disparities in stroke care, and ultimately improve stroke outcomes across the continent. This proposal presents the rationale, objectives, and implementation strategies for the ASO Stroke Education Program and calls for international collaboration to support this critical effort.
format Article
id doaj-art-2e009bfe851b40b4a007248b5b19a8d0
institution OA Journals
issn 2813-3056
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Stroke
spelling doaj-art-2e009bfe851b40b4a007248b5b19a8d02025-08-20T02:35:50ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Stroke2813-30562025-06-01410.3389/fstro.2025.16111941611194Enhancing Africa's stroke workforce to address the stroke burden: a proposal from the African's stroke organization's educational and training committeePaul Bolaji0Ebenezer Ad Adams1Rufus Akinyemi2Mayowa Owolabi3Foad Abd-Allah4Dorset County Hospital, Dorchester, United KingdomAfrican Stroke Organisation, Ibadan, NigeriaInstitute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, NigeriaInstitute for Advanced Medical Research and Training, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, NigeriaDepartment of Neurology, Kasralainy School of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, EgyptStroke is the second leading cause of death and disability in Africa, disproportionately affecting individuals in their most productive years and placing an immense socio-economic burden on families and healthcare systems. Despite the growing stroke burden, Africa faces a severe shortage of trained stroke specialists, with only three neurologists per 10 million people compared to up to 900 per 10 million in high-income countries. This gap has led to inadequate acute management, limited rehabilitation services, and poor long-term outcomes. To address this crisis, the African Stroke Organization (ASO) established an Education and Training Committee focused on developing a structured stroke education framework. This proposal outlines ASO's strategic initiatives to build stroke care capacity through research, professional training, service development, and advocacy. By implementing a comprehensive stroke education program-including online courses, hands-on workshops, conference-based training, and a future summer school, ASO aims to train 5,000 by 2030. Through this initiative, ASO seeks to empower African healthcare professionals, reduce disparities in stroke care, and ultimately improve stroke outcomes across the continent. This proposal presents the rationale, objectives, and implementation strategies for the ASO Stroke Education Program and calls for international collaboration to support this critical effort.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fstro.2025.1611194/fullstrokeeducationAfricacapacity buildingtraining
spellingShingle Paul Bolaji
Ebenezer Ad Adams
Rufus Akinyemi
Mayowa Owolabi
Foad Abd-Allah
Enhancing Africa's stroke workforce to address the stroke burden: a proposal from the African's stroke organization's educational and training committee
Frontiers in Stroke
stroke
education
Africa
capacity building
training
title Enhancing Africa's stroke workforce to address the stroke burden: a proposal from the African's stroke organization's educational and training committee
title_full Enhancing Africa's stroke workforce to address the stroke burden: a proposal from the African's stroke organization's educational and training committee
title_fullStr Enhancing Africa's stroke workforce to address the stroke burden: a proposal from the African's stroke organization's educational and training committee
title_full_unstemmed Enhancing Africa's stroke workforce to address the stroke burden: a proposal from the African's stroke organization's educational and training committee
title_short Enhancing Africa's stroke workforce to address the stroke burden: a proposal from the African's stroke organization's educational and training committee
title_sort enhancing africa s stroke workforce to address the stroke burden a proposal from the african s stroke organization s educational and training committee
topic stroke
education
Africa
capacity building
training
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fstro.2025.1611194/full
work_keys_str_mv AT paulbolaji enhancingafricasstrokeworkforcetoaddressthestrokeburdenaproposalfromtheafricansstrokeorganizationseducationalandtrainingcommittee
AT ebenezeradadams enhancingafricasstrokeworkforcetoaddressthestrokeburdenaproposalfromtheafricansstrokeorganizationseducationalandtrainingcommittee
AT rufusakinyemi enhancingafricasstrokeworkforcetoaddressthestrokeburdenaproposalfromtheafricansstrokeorganizationseducationalandtrainingcommittee
AT mayowaowolabi enhancingafricasstrokeworkforcetoaddressthestrokeburdenaproposalfromtheafricansstrokeorganizationseducationalandtrainingcommittee
AT foadabdallah enhancingafricasstrokeworkforcetoaddressthestrokeburdenaproposalfromtheafricansstrokeorganizationseducationalandtrainingcommittee