Brain Stroke  (“Brain Attack”) is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the world and its incidence is alarmingly rising in India and other developing countries. Currently, 2 in every 1000 people in India have a stroke or a transient Ischemic Attack and is this number is expected to rise further in coming years. Moreover, it is not only a disease of  the aged, it may affect any age- from childhood to the old. To tackle these problems, a nationwide coordinated action  of  individuals from all strata of the health system is required.  In this direction, a meeting  to formulate the “National guidelines for stroke management at various levels of health care delivery” was organized jointly by the Department of Neurology, PGIMER, Chandigarh and the  WHO-India, under the aegis of National Programme for Prevention and Control of Diabetes, CVD and Stroke(NPDCS) at PGIMER,Chandigarh  on 14th of November.  The expert group comprised of  representatives  WHO- India  (Dr JS Thakur), Ministry of  Health and Family Welfare (Dr Sudhir Gupta), National Stroke Task Group of stroke Experts from various Institutes Like AIIMS, New Delhi (Dr MV Padma), Nizam’s Institute, Hyderabad (Dr Subhash Kaul), PGI,Chandigarh ( Dr S Prabhakar,   Dr Dheeraj Khurana), CMC Ludhiana (Dr Jeyaraj Pandian) and GNRC, Guwahati (Dr NC Borah). Other attendees included medical Officers from General hospital (Sec-16), GMCH, Sec-32 and Assistant Civil Surgeon Mohali, Dr Harjai. After hectic  deliberations and brainstorming, the draft guidelines were presented at the end of the meeting. These guidelines targeted for every level of health care –starting from the primary health centers to District Hopsitals to Institutions and Tertiary care hospitals.  These guidelines are based on an intensive review of international stroke literature and the recommendations have been adapted to the local and cultural singularities of India. They are meant to be a practical and ready reference guide for the practicing physician in the national health system. This should enable all stroke patients reaching any level of health care to receive a basic treatment  as early as possible which would reduce the  fatality and disability of  a brain stroke.

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