Only 1,000 neurologists for a billion people; 35-40 for state

The conference has earlier been held in Greece,Germany and the Czech Republic with an aim to bring about a consensus on topics in the areas of stroke,epilepsy,neuro-degenerative disorders and Central Nervous System (CNS) infections; the most prominent neurological disorders in the country.

Dr Sudhir Shah,Chairman of the Neucon Organising Committee,Head of the Department of Neurology at the VS Hospital,Ahmedabad said: “Except for the very new gadgets,India imports most of the required equipment,but the problem is that the reach is restricted to the metro cities only. A major problem with neurological treatment is the lack of awareness to take quick action and the shortage of experts,even though we are at par in expertise.”

He added: “Ideally,the first 5 hours of a stroke is the best time for treatment,but in Ahmedabad city itself only 5 percent of the cases come to the hospitals within that time. We have only 10 centres across the country where arterial thrombosis is treated.”

According to a WHO report,neurological disorders constitute nearly 6.29 per cent of the total global disease burden. Among them,stroke,epilepsy,cerebrovascular disorders,migraine,dementia,Parkinson’s disease,motor neuron disorder and neuromuscular disorders are the major ones.

In India,neurological disorders,consequent to nutritional deficiency,contribute to a significant burden in comparison with developed nations.

The prevalence rate of neurological disorders is in the range of 967 to 4,070 per 1,00,000 population. It is estimated that there are 20 to 30 million people with neurological disorders in India and the common disorders include epilepsy (6 to 8 million),headache (10-12 million) and stroke (1 to 2 million).

During the debate on stroke treatment,it was concluded that aspirin is a better option over combination treatment in the local context keeping in mind the socio-economic factors and disease prevalence.

NeuCon 2009 is the fourth edition of the conference on neurology.